Armenians are committing genocide against Turks in the Republic of Turkey in 2008. That is, at least, the impression that Turkish children get as they are told to dress up as Turkish soldiers and chase Armenian militia after the latter massacre  women and children. This is of course just a theatrical play and somewhat entertaining for adults. But as some Turkish psychologists have suggested, this is how murderers are raised in Turkey.

According to the Turkish Daily News:

The 90th anniversary of the end of the Armenian occupation was celebrated in the town of Gürpınar, in the eastern province of Van, with a “theatrical” re-enactment of a massacre blamed on Armenians.

Around a dozen people, dressed as Armenian militia members, re-enacted the massacre of civilians and were then chased away by Turkish soldiers, played by primary school students.

While the shocked children watched the proceedings, Gürpınar’s mayor, Fuat Yaşar Atan, made a speech, saying the town had celebrated the end of the Armenian occupation with the same vigor for the past 90 years.

Ironically, it has taken 90 years before Turkish newspapers started reporting and criticizing such “celebrations.” Just last month, Armenians hanged a Muslim imam in another Turkish city and were then killed by Turkish soldiers played by High School students.

Now we know why so many Turks are ready to kill Armenians after the latter talk about the Armenian Genocide. It is interesting how after these celebrations all the Armenian bandits are killed. That gives the answer to the Turkish children why the indigenous Armenian population of eastern Turkey has totally disappeared. It is their fault!

The website of the Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum has posted archival photographs of some of the women and children who were sexually enslaved during the Armenian Genocide of WWI. The captives were tattooed as seen in the few photographs below.

Islamized and tattooed Armenian woman, Orient im Bild, Potsdam, 1927.

Victoria, 19 years old, from Adiyaman, Nubarian library collection, Paris.
Mariam Chaparlian, 27 years old, from Marash, Nubarian library collection, Paris.

Marie Bisninyan, 20 years old, Nubarian library collection, Paris.

Melek, 17 years old, Nubarian library collection, Paris

The Armenian genocide resulted in the kidnapping of thousands of Armenian women from their families, usually during deportations or overnight stops. After the organized mass killings of the Armenian male population, during the first stage of state-orchestrated policy of extermination, the Ottoman governors implemented another pre-meditated phase of the genocidal policy: the destruction of the rest of Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, this time targeting the elderly, women and children.

Some of those individuals who were kidnapped and integrated into Muslim family life, over time forgot about their Armenian ethnicity and even lost the ability to speak their native language. In order to save their own lives and the lives of their loved ones many Armenian women forcibly to adopted Islam. They eventually were married off to Muslim men and in keeping with local tribal customs, were marked with specific tattoos. Tattoos were extensively used as amulets in the Middle East and Islamic countries, with the wearers believing that the mark imbued them with magical powers. These tattoos were often in the form of dots or a small “x” and provided protection, strength or fertility. These new markings represented new belonging and a marked change in their life.

What is ironic in this story is that Armenia’s society and especially the government do almost nothing to stop the ongoing and current human trafficking of women and children from Armenia.

Justin Paul, an alleged law school student from Minnesota, has published an article in the Turkish Daily News suggesting Turks to find new, more civilized, methods of denying the Armenian Genocide. He compares some of the most anti-Armenian propaganda used by many Turks to anti-Semitism.

Speaking of the infamous TallArmenianTale.com, the hatesite operated by Disney cartoonist Murad “Holdwater” Gumen, the columnist suggests the unhealthy website is quite unhelpful in denying the Armenian Genocide:

[…] 

An example of this [“shotgun” method] is the site tallarmeniantale.com, which, while done by a lay person, has been championed by some Turkish lobbyists as a resource.  The overall design of the site has become slightly less of an aesthetic blight over the years, but its content is jumbled, disorganized and often intellectually misleading. 

This site launches ad-hominem attacks on Turkish intellectuals closer to the Armenian side, such as disparaging Fatma Muge Gokcek about her weight.  It also portrays Armenians as arch Nazis on the basis of one particular collaborator, conveniently forgetting that many more Armenians died fighting Nazism. 

The site basically strays far and away from any noble defense of the Ottoman Muslims who lost their lives in World War I and enters a realm of vicious anti-Armenian diatribe. Its intellectual companionship would be such conspiracy oriented rags like the Protocols of Elders of Zion, as you would leave this site thinking the Armenian Lobby pretty much controls the United States and is one hateful cabal.

The columnist, who seems to be mocking the Turkish denial but apparently he is not, suggests nationalist Turks to stop calling Turkish historian Taner Akcam – the first Turk to openly research and acknowledge the Genocide as such – Osama Bin Laden. He calls a Turkish film denying the Armenian Genocide “another failed attempt to make a noble defense” and complains that “there have been the outlandish signs at Turkish demonstrations which allege that Armenian [sic] killed 3 million Turks and Azeris.” He also doesn’t like when Turks use Pinocchio imagery to deny the Armenian Genocide. Too bad – that was my favorite part.

Having in mind that the article is published on April 1 Fools Day, one would think that Mr. Paul is mocking the Turkish denial and telling them to drop their principle arguments in denying the Armenian Genocide – Pinocchio, Nazism, Osama Bin Laden and 3 million dead Turks.

What Mr. Paul doesn’t realize is that genocide denial is a hate crime and cannot be nuanced, rationalized and toned down. If those nationalists Turks who were denying the Armenian Genocide found enough humanity in Armenians to nuance their rhetoric, they would come to see the truth and there would not be genocide denial. Most denialists consistently use lower-case ‘a’ in the word ‘armenian’ and ‘armenians’ – to demonstrate that Armenians are not humans. And Mr. Paul is hoping that this kind of mindset can be changed.

Well, I do hope that the nationalist mindset will change. But when it changes, there will be no denial.

Published in Massachusetts in the Needham Times, Belmont Citizen-Herald, Watertown Tab and Press, and elsewhere.

Blue Cross has unhealthful relationship with ‘No Place for Hate’

March 24, 2008

By David Boyajian

With health insurance now compulsory in Massachusetts, and premiums high enough to cause altitude sickness, it’s inexcusable that the state’s largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, is still misusing its subscribers’ money by sponsoring the alleged anti-bias program known as “No Place for Hate.”

Eleven municipalities — Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Lexington, Medford, Needham, Newburyport, Newton, Northampton, Watertown and Westwood — recently gave their NPFH program the boot. They discovered that its creator and sponsor, the Anti-Defamation League, denies the factuality of the Armenian Genocide committed by Turkey and doesn’t want America to recognize that genocide. And they understood that NPFH — the name is a federally registered ADL trademark — was violating its own human rights principles by being affiliated with a genocide-denying organization.
 
The ADL has hypocritically opposed acknowledgment of the Armenian holocaust to win political points with Turkey, which has close relations with Israel. In actuality, the ADL is a highly controversial, ethnic-specific organization known to be focused on political lobbying, not universal human rights.
 
So why hasn’t Blue Cross Blue Shield followed the lead of towns that have severed ties to NPFH?
 
Here’s what we know. Several years back, Peter Meade, the recently retired Blue Cross Blue Shield vice president, “was instrumental in mobilizing Blue Cross” to become the state’s first official NPFH corporation. And Meade sits — amazing coincidence No. 1 — on the board of the New England ADL and received its Chairperson’s Award.
 
Meade also chairs the Greenway Conservancy, which will oversee future upkeep of Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway. For some strange reason — amazing coincidence No. 2 — he opposes the Greenway’s proposed Armenian Heritage Park, which might include a small plaque that remembers the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
 
It’s an obvious conflict of interest for a member of the genocide-denying ADL to sit in judgment of anything Armenian. But so far the well-connected Meade has gotten away with it, aided by the Boston Globe, which won’t report that conflict of interest.
 
And here’s amazing coincidence No. 3: Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Boston headquarters is hosting this year’s board meetings of the Greenway Conservancy.
 
How much has Blue Cross Blue Shield been spending on NPFH programs? It won’t give me a figure, and I can guess why. Blue Cross Blue Shield was recently in the spotlight for the controversial $16.4 million retirement package it lavished on ex-Chairman William Van Faasen.
 
Interestingly, Van Faasen declared in 2001 that Blue Cross Blue Shield was “pleased [to] assist the ADL” with NPFH. Which brings us to amazing coincidence No. 4: Van Faasen received the ADL’s coveted Maimonides award.
 
Another Blue Cross Blue Shield executive, Vice President Fredi Shonkoff, “helped spearhead” the company’s designation as NPFH. How might that have happened? Amazing coincidence No. 5: Shonkoff sat on the ADL’s board, along with Peter Meade.
 
Are you getting the feeling that the ADL and its board members and friends have been throwing their weight around inside Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Greenway Conservancy and the state’s NPFH municipalities?
 
Think of the powerful ADL as the hub of an enormous wheel with these spokes: NPFH — Blue Cross Blue Shield — Shonkoff — Van Faasen — Meade — the Greenway Conservancy — opposition to the Armenian Park — denial of the Armenian Genocide — Turkey.
 
Had a Holocaust-denying organization created and sponsored NPFH, Blue Cross Blue Shield would long ago have cut ties with both of them. Blue Cross Blue Shield apparently believes Armenians and their genocide do not deserve the same respect.
 
And, yes, the ADL still denies the Armenian genocide. Last August, ADL National Director Abe Foxman deliberately used ambiguous phrases such as “tantamount to genocide” and language that parroted Turkey’s line that the mass murder of Armenians from 1915-23 was not intentional, but rather just an unfortunate “consequence” of wartime conditions.
 
Blue Cross Blue Shield is squandering not only its subscribers’ premiums but also the reputations of a 70-year old health-care institution and its dedicated employees. One hopeful sign: Blue Cross Blue Shield told me, “Each year we carefully evaluate our commitment to the NPFH program.”
 
Though Massachusetts treats Blue Cross Blue Shield as a nonprofit, the feds consider it for-profit. Since corporate contributions to groups such as NPFH are tax-deductible, everyone is paying for NPFH. And if you’re a Blue Cross Blue Shield subscriber, as huge numbers of people in Massachusetts are, you’re shelling out even more.
 
Turkish doctors experimented on Armenians during the genocide just as German doctors did on Jews during the Holocaust, according to a study published in “Holocaust and Genocide Studies.” Would any network of doctors tolerate a health-care corporation affiliated with an organization that denied or diminished the Holocaust? Of course not. Blue Cross Blue Shield network doctors, therefore, should insist that Blue Cross Blue Shield cease participation in all ADL programs.
 
Blue Cross Blue Shield needs to drop its official NPFH designation, stop misusing its members’ precious health-care dollars on NPFH and sever ties with the ADL.
 
David Boyajian lives in Newton.
 
For related material, please see www.NoPlaceforDenial.com and http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinions/x179810955/index.html

Via TurkishPress:

The Turkish Association for Fight Against Unfounded Genocide Allegations (ASIMED) launched an e-mail campaign against Wikipedia urging it to remove the “Semi-Protection” lock over the article on Armenian allegations concerning the incidents of 1915.

Chairman of Asimed, Assistant Professor Savas Egilmez, said the best thing about Wikipedia was its feature allowing users to edit (make corrections, deletions and additions) in articles published on the website.

“When you browse the English version of Wikipedia which publishes its content in various languages, one notices an issue in complete contrast with the Wikipedia principles. In the english website while the article on Armenian allegations concerning the incidents of 1915 contain all the thesis of the Armenian diaspora, the Turkish thesis are excluded,” said Egilmez.

“The web site allows users to make editions in all subjects, but it does not allow edition of the article on Armenian allegations. The site only provides the theses of the Armenian diaspora. This is a great injustice against the Turkish Nation.”

Egilmez said they started an e-mail campaign to stop this injustice and asked Turkish nationals to support it by sending e-mails to the web site’s administrators ([email protected]) .

Wikipedia has a “Protection policy” allowing administrators to protect a page to restrict editing or moving of that page, and remove such protection.

“Editing or moving of a page can be restricted by administrators. As Wikipedia is built around the principle that anyone can edit it, this should only be done in certain situations,” says the policy.

[…]

Among newly-arrested suspects in an ongoing crackdown against the Ergenekon ultranationalist gang in Turkey is Dogu Perincek, leader of the nationalist Turkish Workers’ Party, who was last year convicted of racism by a Swiss court for denying the Armenian genocide in Europe.

 Image via BBC

California’s News Blaze has a story on an Armenian Genocide survivor who died at the age of 106 – five months after her story was told in the U.S. Congress for a resolution commemorating the Armenian Genocide that was soon killed by George W. Bush and the Turkish lobby.  Hayganous Markarian did not live to see a symbolic act of recognition of her survival. But she survived the worst international crime – genocide.

106-year old Hayganoush Markarian was one of last two known Bay Area survivors

Hayganoush Markarian, one of only two known remaining survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide living in the Bay Area, passed away at the age of 106 on March 13.

Last October, Markarian’s story of survival was presented by Rep. Lynn Woolsey to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs during a hearing regarding a resolution officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide by Congress. Rep. Woolsey showed committee members Markarian’s photograph and urged her colleagues to pass the resolution. The resolution passed in committee and awaits a vote by the full House of Representatives.

Markarian was born Hayganoush Azarian on January 24, 1902 in the city of Kharpert in current-day eastern Turkey. The area was the historic homeland of Armenians until the Ottoman Turkish government began a systematic campaign to exterminate the Armenian population in 1915, which culminated in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children through massacres and forced deportations.

In Kharpert, Markarian lived with her parents, older brother, and four sisters. When the Turkish government began the Armenian Genocide, first through the conscription of Armenian men and boys into special army units, Markarian’s brother and father fled into hiding. Her brother, Karekin, dressed as a girl in order to safely cross dangerous areas. He made his way to Russia, then Sweden, and finally to the United States. Her father, Minas, who had been a successful businessman, hid among some of his Kurdish clients, moving from residence to residence to avoid detection. Meanwhile, Markarian’s mother found a way to keep the rest of the family together in Kharpert during the mass deportations, avoiding massacre until the end of WWI when they were reunited with Markarian’s father. Unfortunately, Minas suffered an early death as the result of the difficult conditions he had faced hiding in water wells for long periods of time.

In 1923, Markarian’s mother moved the family to Aleppo, Syria, where Hayganoush married Markar Markarian in 1925. They remained in Aleppo, raising five children, until 1956 when the entire family moved to Lebanon. In the meantime, their eldest son, Armen, migrated to the United States to pursue an education, and remained in America to teach. In 1969, the rest of the Markarian family followed Armen to the United States.

In both Syria and Lebanon, Markarian was an active member of the Armenian Relief Society, the oldest Armenian women’s organization operating in the world. The organization was established in 1910 in New York City to provide humanitarian assistance to Armenians in need. Markarian continued her membership until her death this week.

Hayganoush Markarian’s funeral will take place on Wednesday, March 19, at 11 am, at St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco. She is survived by Armen and Victoria Markarian, Arsen and Alice Gregorian, Zohrab and Elizabeth Markarian, Sinan and Seta Yazejian, Constantine and Nayiri Bouboussis, and six grandchildren. [And ten million Armenians around the world.]

The Turkish Ministry of Interior has officially responded to Circassian researcher Sait Uluisik’s inquiry in regards to the his recent deportation from Turkey. Uluisik had visited Turkey to research the archives on the Armenian Genocide and his people’s possible participation in it. He was deported to Germany from the airport before even getting to the archives. The official answer to Mr. Uluisik says that he has reportedly “engaged in research about genocide in connection with Armenian and Circassian activities.” Below is the (translated from Turkish) official letter that the Circassian researcher has received:

T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorGeneral Directorate of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                                         [stamped 15 Feb. 2008]To the Presidential Office of the 7th Administrative Court of Ankara                                                                                                                        Base No:  2008/21PLAINTIFF                             : M. Sait ULUІŞІKREPRESENTATIVE               : Attorney Murat BÖBREK                                                Sezenler St., No:  3/7 Sihhiye ANKARASUBJECT OF LAWSUIT       : Regarding the demand for cancellation of the processing of prohibited entry into Turkey.CAUSE OF ACTION & 1st DEFENSE          : Upon the demand by representative Attorney Murat BÖBREK on behalf of the plaintiff M. Sait ULUІŞІK that the processing of prohibited entry of his client into Turkey be cancelled, the application of the lawsuit initiated against this Ministry was evaluated:     According to the information and documents received from the Presidential Office of Foreigners Border Asylum    The facts which have been confirmed by this Ministry about Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK, son of Alaettin-Fatma, born in Eskişehir on July 10, 1959 are listed below:1)       By the statement of EGM (Presidential Office of Intelligence) dated July 17, 2007, number 155318, the individual Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK, a German citizen of Turkish nationality, engaged in research about genocide in connection with Armenian and Circassian activities,After ascertaining the intentions of the plaintiff who was engaged in research at the Ottoman Archives located in Istanbul/Sultanahmet during the months of April-May 2007 for the purpose of finding support for theses that during the periods of the last years of the Ottoman Empire, the Party of Union and Progress and the Turkish National Struggle for Independence (Milli Mücadele), “the last Ottoman administrations provoked the peoples of the Caucasus, particularly the Circassians, against the Armenians,  that they instigated mutual killings between  T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorPublic Director’s Office of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                                           the Circassians and the Armenians and therefore caused the genocide of the Circassians as well as the Armenians” and that he was able to further his research with financial support received from the “Konrad Adenauer Foundation” and the “Goethe Institute” which are active and located in Germany,  the investigation revealed that,             Not knowing whether the individual identified above was the same person as the plaintiff, it was confirmed that an individual named Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK, son of Alaettin-Fatma and born in Eskişehir on July 10, 1959, lost his Turkish citizenship, while registered at the Bilecik/Bozüyük office of vital statistics, by decision number 1956 of the Cabinet Ministers, dated June 7, 1991, based upon Turkish Citizenship Statute 403, Article 25/ç, for failing to perform his military duty. 2)      Based upon this, in accordance with the 5682 Passport Law supplementary 5th article which applies to this situation, and supporting the “Proper” decision of the Office of the Ministry dated Nov. 1, 2007, for the purpose of monitoring the entry and exit from our country,  on Nov. 6, 2007, by statement numbered 181368 a decision to prohibit entry by this individual was made. 3)      With that same statement, information was to be forwarded to your office’s records to determine whether the German citizen of Turkish nationality, Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK who was engaged in genocide research regarding the activities of the Armenians and Circassians was the same Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK whose entry to the country had been prohibited and in the event they were not the same,  notices were sent to the interested offices that ID information regarding the individual performing genocide research should be forwarded as soon as possible.  4)      Later, by statement dated Nov. 9, 2007 and numbered 09.11.2007, the undersecretary to the MIT [Abbreviation for: National Intelligence Organization] gave notice that based on their information it was confirmed that the German citizen of Turkish nationality, Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK, who was engaged in genocide research regarding the activities of Armenians  T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorPublic Director’s Office of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                                           and Circassians was the same Mehmet Sait ULUІŞІK whose entry into the country had been prohibited .  Wherefore:a)      Wherefore, the provisions of Passport Law  5682, 8th Article 5th paragraph, “Those who intend to disturb the security and public order of the Republic of Turkey or who it is suspected have arrived in order to be involved with or aid those who intend to and have disturbed it” b)      And the provisions included in the supplementary 5th Article of the same law, “Anyone who has lost Turkish citizenship, for whatever reason, may travel to Turkey so long as the Ministry of the Interior permits it upon a determination that there are no impediments.  Based upon the Turkish Citizenship Law, Title 403, Article 26, those who have lost Turkish citizenship but nevertheless wish to travel to the country as a tourist may do so for a period of up to four months total in one year”,c)      The provisions of Title 5683 of the Law on Residency and Travel of Foreigners in Turkey, 1st Article, “Foreigners whose entry into Turkey has not be prohibited and who  have entered according to the rules of the Passport Law, have the right to reside and travel in Turkey in accordance with the prevailing registration and conditions set by law.”,d)      The provisions of the same law, Article 19, “Foreigners whose stay in the country has been determined by the Ministry of the Interior to be a threat to general safety or are against political or administrative needs will be asked to leave Turkey within a stated period of time.   Those who do not leave by the end of that period may be deported.”e)      Whereas the provisions of the 21st Article of the same law state “The Ministry of the Interior has the authority to make decisions in support of deportation in accordance with this law”   T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorPublic Director’s Office of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                               In light of this: The processing of the plaintiff by this ministry is, in accordance with Passport Law number 5682, supplementary Article 5, a legal action for the purpose of monitoring entries and exits from this country and making them subject to permission. In addition, based upon information which the plaintiff acquired from study and research it is clear that the plaintiff engaged in research on Armenian and Circassian activities that is against the interests of our country and in view of this, according to the provisions of Passport Law number 5682, Article 8, Paragraph 5 “Those who intend to disturb the security and public order of the Republic of Turkey or who it is suspected have arrived in order to be involved with or aid those who intend to and have disturbed it”  it is necessary to place this individual in the category of those whose entry into Turkey is forbidden.              When examining the matter from the viewpoint of International Agreements, the administrative action is determined to be apropos.             The provisions of the European Human Rights Convention, 4th protocol, 2nd Article state “Everyone who is legally within the boundaries of a nation state has the right to freely travel and choose a residency there.”             From the European Human Rights Convention titled “Prohibition on the Abuse of Rights”             The 17th Article whose language includes, “None of the provisions of this Convention can be interpreted to give a state, a society or an individual the right to engage in an activity or action that would destroy a right or freedom granted by this Convention or broaden a limitation on them that was not foreseen here.”              T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorPublic Director’s Office of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                                          The Supplementary 4th Protocol of the aforementioned Convention titled “Freedom to travel”; “1.  Everyone who is legally within the boundaries of a nation state has the right to freely travel and choose a residency there.            2.  Everyone is free to not abandon a country, including their own.             3.  In a democratic society, these rights may be limited only for the purposes of protecting national security, public safety and order, the prevention of crimes, the protection of health and morality or others’ rights and freedoms, and as necessary precautions under the stipulations of the law.              4.  The rights enumerated in the 1st paragraph of this Article, may, as indicated in the 2nd Article,  have limitations enforced by law in a democratic society, for the purpose of promoting public good.”  Based upon these limiting precautions which have been reserved for use by countries to ensure safety and public order, it is clear that the action taken against this individual is supported by International Agreements.             Additionally, our Constitution,  Article 12 titled “The Quality of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms” provides that;            “Based upon their humanity, everyone possesses inalienable, nontransferable, immune fundamental rights and freedoms.  Fundamental rights and freedoms also contain duties and responsibilities of each individual to their society, their family and others. “            The 13th Article titled “ Limitations on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms” states,            “ Fundamental rights and freedoms may be limited by law in harmony with the language and spirit of the Constitution, for the purposes of protecting the indivisible whole of the state’s country and nation, national sovereignty, the Republic, national safety,  public and general order, public welfare, general morality and health, and also for special reasons as foreseen in  indicated Articles of the Constitution.            The general and special limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms indicated shall not be in opposition to the necessities of a democratic society’s organization and shall not be used beyond the purpose that was stipulated.            T.R. (Turkish Republic)Ministry of the InteriorPublic Director’s Office of SecurityNumber:   B.05.1.EGM.0.61.03.03                                                                                 K-Q                 996/08-235                                                                                               TSE-ISO-ENSubject:     M. Sait ULUІŞІK                                                                                          9000 (Prohibited Entry to country – 1st defense)                                                           The reasons for a general limitation described in this Article are applicable to all rights and freedoms.”  This language emphasizes the authority of the administration to impose limitations that are in accordance with the law.              Accordingly, the supplementary 4th protocol to the European Human Rights Convention, stipulates that states may impose certain limitations for the purpose of ensuring national safety, public order and public security.            Additionally, the right to impose certain restrictions on the entry of foreigners into a country is part of states’ sovereignty rights, and the natural result of these rights is that every state may impose registration and rule requirements regarding the travel of foreigners.              In addition:              Since the start of 2004, Article 25/ç of Law number 403 has not been enforced.  Those who do not submit to military duty are no longer being removed from citizenship.             For this reason, those who lost their citizenship prior to 2004, may request and have their citizenship reinstated, without being subject to the conditions described in Law number 403.              In this way, the military files of those who have their citizenship reinstated are reactivated in accordance with Military Law number 1111, regardless of their age.            Additionally, the orders that prohibit entry for those individuals who have their Turkish citizenship reinstated are being lifted.             Having expended absolutely no effort in this regard up until now, and failed to show good faith, the action taken against this individual is determined to have not violated the regulations.  The information and documentation in support of the defense to be made in the Court indicated is comprised of this material. CONCLUSION:  In view of the fact that no violation of the regulations was found in connection with the action whose cancellation is demanded, I request a judgment that the lawsuit be dismissed and that the costs of prosecution and attorney fees be imposed on the plaintiff.                                                                                    [illegible signature]                                                                                    Osman KARAKUŞ                                                                                    In the name of the Minister                                                                                    1st Legal Counselor

                                                                                    1st Class Security Director

A day after the Turkish-language media harshly criticized celebrations in an historic Armenian town – now in Turkey -where locals ‘hanged’  killed Armenians after the latter hanged a Muslim leader in a play, English versions of dissenting voices are published in Turkey’s newspapers. In one of them, a Turkish columnist says that, “we are actually raising murderers.”

Image: Turkish children – from the audience – looking at an actor portraying a Muslim religous leader who was hanged by a group of Armenians. The Armenians later massacre women and children until they are stopped by the Turkish army that liberates Erzrum in a ceremonal play in central Turkey. “We are actually raising murders,” writes a Turkish columnist about the “celebration.”

The English translation of Mehmet Ali Birand’s column is in The Turkish Daily News, where the columnist writes the following:

[…] 

Supposedly, they had put on a representative play to prevent the young from forgetting the past. Eyes wide-opened in fear, small kids were watching drunk “Armenian militia” attack everybody, stab babies with bayonets and hanging the imam in punishment.

This must have been the worst-ever representative “reminder of history.” What is more, it was repeated year after year despite all objections. This year must have hit the zenith of bad taste. Once more supposedly, the objective is to raise some nationalist generations and to remind others of the bitter pages of the past

All it does is to indoctrinate young generations with grudges and to teach them to view Armenians as the enemy to be punished on sight.  This is the mentality that led to the murders of Hrant Dink, priest Santoro and the three people at the publishing house in Malatya.  We will never be able to save our young from the gangs that provide them with guns and incite them to murder as long as we continue to instill hostility in our youngsters.

There is no use in catching murderers and instigators and putting them in jail. Tomorrow, there will be others, for we infect those poor young brains with these primitive and inhumane ideas. The prime minister may talk of “brotherhood” as much as he wants to. Nothing will change as long as he overlooks such primitivism and does nothing to prevent it. He may be unaware of the fact that this is the very attitude that will gradually divide Turkey. The same youth that we now turn against Armenians will some day view all foreigners with hostility and will act out of the conviction that every “enemy” must be killed.

In other words, we are actually raising murderers. What is more, this nonsense is repeated every year despite all the negative criticism.

[…]  

This and other commentaries resonate with murdered Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s wife’s statement that Turks should ask themselves how babies become murders. The conversation gets sick but more than real when photos of Turkish infants with real guns are circulated in the Internet by proud nationalist Turks.

These are the children who literaly use own blood to paint Turkey’s flagand children that can hardly be recovered. I would call these Turkish babies the stolen generations. And it is definitely time to stop the theft.

Turkey’s Radical has interviewed historian Taner Akcam about his new book on the Armenian Genocide. Akcam’s book, only released in January 2008, is now in its second edition as the first one was sold out in 3-4 days. Below is the entire interview (translated from Turkish and originally published in The Armenian Reporter):

“The objective was to get rid of all Armenians”

Taner Akçam, the author of Ermeni Meselesi Hallolunmuştur [“The Armenian Issue is Resolved”] states: “We can comfortably assert that in light of these documents, the thesis that what was experienced in 1915 does not fit within the definition of genocide from 1948 is no longer credible.”

By EFNAN ATMACA

      It has been exactly one year since the assassination of Hrant Dink. Last Saturday, on this first anniversary, tens of thousands gathered once again “For Hrant, For Justice.” Taner Akçam, whose book, Ermeni Meselesi Hallolunmuştur [“The Armenian Issue Is Resolved”] opens up the debate about what occurred in 1915 with new documentation, has also just been published, and Akçam, who dedicates the book to “my brother Hrant, who will always represent the nobility and virtue of having a conscience… Dear Hrant, everything is as we had spoken…,” both memorialized his friend and brought a new viewpoint to the matter. By building connections, one by one, among new records he was able to obtain, Akçam brings new perspectives to the policies which were enforced against Armenians in 1915. In his book, subtitled Policies Against the Armenians During the War Years According to Ottoman Documents, while revealing each of the many telegrams sent by Talat Pasha, Akcam states that the deportation of 1915 was the last stage of the Turkification policies of that period. In particular, supported by primary sources, he explains how this project was personally developed well in advance by Talat Pasha and put into action through the efforts of the Teşkilat-I Mahsusa (Special Organization). One of the most crucial documents in the book, the one which gives the book its title, is a telegram from Talat Pasha: “The Armenian issue is resolved. There’s no need to stain the nation and the government with extra atrocities.”

Q: The events of 1915 are a huge controversy. The opposing sides of the controversy continually claim to possess and then publish important documents, and argue about whether or not to open up the Ottoman archives …On the other side, there are others who state that in writing about history a “document cult” shouldn’t be created and that the process shouldn’t be reduced to a war of documents. Meanwhile your book is completely based upon documentation…What and how can records tell us anything?

A: If you are being open and honest, historical records can easily provide a general framework for how events occurred. Still, you need to distinguish here between two separate points. First of all, the main issue is the frame, the model you are creating when you are gathering these documents. Secondly is the question of how much do the records you’re presenting truly reflect reality. If someone possesses an understanding of history that is nationalistic and racist, the history they write will reflect that, and by discriminating in the choice of records, they will try to prove that position. Additionally, the records you find and use are products of the ideological and political beliefs of the period in which they were produced. It is for that reason that the question “What is the truth?” is the subject of such serious argument in historical scholarship. One thing is certain, though. The thing called “the truth” is not a thing, not a treasure that is buried somewhere in the ground and it is up to us to dig it up. For example, if a hundred years from now, you were to research the bombing of the Umut Kitabevi (Umut Publishing House) in Şemdinli in 2005, you would find plenty of state documents asserting that the publishing house had been bombed by the PKK. [Translator’s note: The bookstore was bombed by army officers, but law enforcement forces produced some documents to claim that it was the PKK that bombed the bookstore.]

      Keeping these two things in mind, nevertheless the place to start is the historic records. You have no other choice. The important thing is to maintain a critical eye when examining any particular document or body of documents. First of all, in order to defend your thesis, you need to present a series of records that is both comprehensive and widespread. Secondly, there should be a continuous “balance and control” relationship between the records you are presenting and the argument you are trying to make. This is precisely what makes history a social science. The use of deep and varied sources of material along with total honesty are the two crucial elements of historical study.

Q: How important are the records in this book?

A: They are the records of a government and a party that managed to deport and kill Armenians in 1915. For the most part, they consist of coded telegrams that were sent by the Ministry of the Interior to the regional offices. When you consider the difficulty of communication in that era through postal services and the like, the importance of these records is even less in doubt. In order to maintain high volume and speedy communications with the regions, the government [at that time] had established a special bureau and by way of that office managed to send short and frank orders to the regional offices. For this reason, these records provide a primary source of information about a party and a state that planned a deportation and killings.

Q: Is it possible to state that, in view of the records which the book brings to light, there is no longer any doubt that what happened was a genocide?

A: Yes, we can comfortably assert that in light of these documents, the thesis that what was experienced in 1915 does not fit within the definition of genocide from 1948 is no longer credible and can be dismissed. The officials of the Turkish government, who view the Ottoman records as the only reliable source, will see that our government records also show that the Union and Progress party followed a policy that endeavored to destroy the Armenians. Nevertheless, there are those who will deny this, and they will continue to deny it. There are many people today, still, who do not believe that the Jews were annihilated by the Nazis. I need to add this: In Turkey, particularly among those who defend the official state position and who claim to be historians, you will hear extremely ignorant comments like “Where is the document to show genocide? Prove it.” Genocide does not have [is not proved with] a single document. The holocaust against the Jews didn’t consist of a document here and a document there. What history and the social sciences do, or should do, is to illustrate the chain of events by way of an accumulated ball of knowledge from as detailed a record of documents as can be produced. As the documents which I published show, how to label the events that are described is a conclusion that you make based upon the documentation. In other words, genocide is identified by a certain picture that is revealed. You give the picture that name, which is why the picture you present has to be created by way of hundreds of tiny pieces of information. As I state in my book, in trying to understand and describe what occurred in 1915, I did not have a special purpose to “prove” genocide. I find this kind of approach to be deficient and wrong and more properly the duty of a prosecutor or judge. However, after the publication of these documents, I know that those who claim that what occurred in 1915 cannot be called a genocide do not have much more to say.

Q: Almost all of the documents you obtained reveal that the action, in your words “to cleanse Anatolia of Armenians,” was taken by the personal orders of Talat Pasha through the party apparatus, not the state government. Could this be the start of a new period for the Armenian problem?

A: It absolutely should start a new period. Still, you need to remember that these telegrams were sent to the regional offices by Talat Pasha under the aegis of the Ministry of the Interior. While some of the telegrams bear his signature, others do not. Those were signed by the director of the office. These are state documents, not party documents. Nevertheless, when it comes to 1915, I believe and defend the notion that it is extremely important to make the distinction between state and party. As much as the state was taken over by the [Union and Progress] party, the same party which defended a dictatorship had rendered many of the government functions impotent. Every action that the party took was taken by way of government channels. Still, within governmental organs, there were points of resistance against what the Party was doing. If you make a state-party distinction, you begin to see and understand that there were very many honest state officials during that period, who resisted and opposed the murders committed by the Union and Progress party. In fact, -some of the records are the results of the efforts of some honest state officials to have the events recorded within state documents.

Q: What sort of results, both negative and positive, can be expected if Turkey acknowledges the Armenian genocide?

A: There isn’t a single state that I know of or recognize that has been harmed by acknowledging past wrongdoings. Is there any country that you can name which was beset with problems because it faced its history? None! Quite the contrary, those regimes that had tried to cover up history, that had denied the cruelties and injustices that occurred in their past, ended up facing very serious problems and were even demolished. Turkey will only mature and gather praise once it has accepted a historical injustice. A Turkey that manages to face the historical injustices of its past will be able to take its deserved place among world nations with greater ease. So acceptance of the injustices in the past will not only not produce any negative result, it will do the opposite.

      I would like to add that there isn’t just one way to face history and acknowledge an injustice. I would like to point out here that there is a difference between scholarship and politics. As a social scientist you may not be very convincing if, in light of all the records and information available, you use some term other than “genocide” to identify the events of 1915, but a government has many alternatives at its disposal when confronting history and acknowledging historic injustices. At the top of the list would be to stop referring to those who discuss it as “traitors,” to stop killing them or dragging them through criminal prosecutions. Freedom of thought and democracy are the preconditions for acknowledging one’s history. Secondly, you will need to develop a language that describes what occurred as morally unacceptable. A language that denounces and condemns murders is absolutely crucial. After that, in harmony with this new language, you need to take some steps that heal this injustice, that work towards fixing it. Here there are dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to go about this. Our politicians need to see that the matter isn’t just about getting stuck on one single word. They need to approach the problem from a rich and wide net of possibilities.

Q: If we look at the matter from the perspective of the [Armenian] Diaspora…in light of these new found documents, what kinds of steps might they take?

A: There is a very misguided belief in Turkey. Unfortunately, both the state and politicians as well as some progressive and democratic intellectuals spread this mistaken belief and information. According to them, the Armenian Diaspora consists of a uniform, monolithic block, and there are some serious differences between the Diaspora and the state of Armenia. According to the beliefs of those who hold this position, the real problem is with the Diaspora; the Armenians of Armenia take a different position on things. This is simply not true. There is no singular, homogeneous, monolithic Diaspora , nor are there any serious differences between the Diaspora and Armenia regarding this subject. The Armenians of the Diaspora are as diverse in opinion as Turkey is divided into thousands of positions. …Among them there are dozens of opinions and positions. I believe that my book in Turkish will not only positively affect Armenian circles but also will have a positive effect in increasing the numbers of those in Turkey who will want to resolve our differences in a peaceful and brotherly way through direct contact.

Q: At the end of the book you state, “What we need is to recognize the reality that we are face to face with an action that is morally, conscientiously unacceptable and to develop a language that expresses that.” What do you mean by this new language?

A: The language of conflict differs from the language of friendship, mutual respect and peace. The language that dominates the administration and mainstream media in Turkey today is one that views the Armenians as the enemy, as a traitor and the Other. It’s a racist and aggressive language. The administration and mainstream media continue to conduct the discourse around what happened in 1915 with a wartime mindset. For that reason, historians like me, who think critically, are branded as traitors, and they organize campaigns against us. Hrant Dink was murdered as a direct result of this language and this mindset.

      First of all, we need to put an end to this wartime mindset and to this aggressive language. There are many within Armenian circles who see the problem with the same point of view and use the same aggressive language. We have to establish and develop a humane language that doesn’t view Armenians and Turks as enemies, which doesn’t brand the other as a traitor, doesn’t demean the other, and views Armenians and Turks with respect. Armenians and Turks will be able to construct their future upon this foundation of mutual respect and friendship.

Q: Another of way asking this is, what steps need to be taken so that the matter in question is resolved through democratic means?

A: Prior to anything else happening, the borders between the two countries need to be opened without any preconditions, and diplomatic relations should be initiated. It is very difficult to explain how Turkey can have no objection to maintaining diplomatic relations with Syria, a country with a population of 10 million which has protected Abdullah Öcalan for years and depicts Hatay as falling within their own borders, and yet reject diplomatic relations with Armenia, a country of 3 million. First unconditional diplomatic relations, then the opening of the borders, and then the rest will come. Additionally, Turkey has to see that this matter isn’t just about history. Turkey has to see that it has everything to do with how [Turkey] behaves towards minorities today.

Q: How do you evaluate the Hrant Dink assassination’s effect on resolving the Armenian issue? In particular, would you characterize the way society embraced Dink after the assassination, and the way it lead to openly discussing the Armenian issue, as a positive thing?

A: Hrant Dink was the most beautiful gift that Turkey could present to Armenia and the Diaspora. Hrant was the most important person who could bring these two countries, these two peoples, together. When we were in Yerevan in 2005, I used to tease Hrant that if I were the Turkish government, I’d have him appointed the symbolic, spiritual ambassador to Armenia. Turkey killed its ambassador; it broke the olive branch that it could have extended. What’s worse is that the ones who broke this olive branch are organized within the police and gendarmerie forces. Those officials who knew about the assassination, who planned and directed it, have not only not been punished, they have been rewarded and promoted.

      I can’t state enough how important it is for society to embrace Hrant Dink. Within him they [Turkish society] have discovered a dynamic, a potential to bring these two nations together. Both the Armenians in America, who are cursed as “Diaspora” in Turkey, and the people in Istanbul shed tears for Hrant. Hrant brought everyone with a heart together. He’s become the symbol for what needs to be done to resolve this problem. We must build a monument for him and memorialize him.

Q: Could the policy taken by the AKP (Justice and Development Party of Turkey, now in control of the Administration) to act in harmony with an EU framework be a positive step towards resolving this problem?

A: I don’t believe that the AKP has any thoughts on this subject. They don’t give even the slightest indication of having any thoughts. Either they don’t know anything about the subject, or they think it is enough to continue promoting the traditional lies. In fact, if the AKP actually followed their Islamic roots, they could make some serious headway on the subject. There’s only one thing I could ask of the AKP, and that’s to take their Islamic roots seriously.

ERMENI MESELESI HALLOLUNMUŞTUR [THE ARMENIAN ISSUE IS RESOLVED]

Taner Akçam, Iletişim Publications, 2008, 339 pages, 19.5 YTL