While I was going through some personal stuff, I missed to watch (or attend) an historical event: A commemoration of the 1915 massacres. The event page is here. This was the first in Turkey’s recent history. It was a small scale event but a giant symbolic step:
Human rights activists hold pictures of Armenian victims during a protest outside the Haydarpasa railway station in Istanbul. Thousands of Armenians have marked the 95th anniversary of mass killings under the Ottoman Empire amid fresh tensions with Turkey over the collapse of reconciliation efforts.? Read more » (AFP/Bulentkilic)
Human rights activists and artists in Istanbul commemorated the 1915-17 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks for the first time Saturday, breaking with a near century-old Turkish taboo.
It was difficult not to feel anxious. It had not been done before, not in the entire history of the republic. But, this time, not only one, but several events were organized both in İstanbul and Ankara to commemorate the ?dark day? of late Ottoman history — April 24, 1915.
The other day, I received a phone call from a good friend of mine who has nationalist tendencies. He was furious about the liberal intellectuals who came together at Taksim Square on April 24 and mourned the tragedy of Armenian losses in 1915. Knowing my liberal outlook, my friend politely warned me not to go to Taksim to join the liberal group.
An elderly Armenian woman holds a banner during a ceremony in Yerevan. Thousands of Armenians have marked the 95th anniversary of mass killings under the Ottoman Empire amid fresh tensions with Turkey over the collapse of reconciliation efforts.? Read more » (AFP/PANARMENIAN PHOTO/Davit Hakobyan)
One can only hope that the 24th of April will one day genuinely become a day of remembrance for Armenians instead of a day before which political games and tactics are put in action in order to influence the White House?s statement at the last minute.
Turks Urged To Mark Armenia’s ‘Great Catastrophe’ In Istanbul RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
YEREVAN — Turkish intellectuals have urged their countrymen to join them on April 24 for a silent protest in Istanbul on the 95th anniversary of the start
“As a candidate, Barack Obama repeatedly promised to refer to the almost century-old massacre of Armenians in Turkey as a genocide. But since becoming president, Obama has twice passed up opportunities to do so,” the Washington Post has reported after the latest presidential statement on the tragedy of 1915.
YEREVAN: Tens of thousands of Armenians on Saturday marked the 95th anniversary of the genocide under the Ottoman Empire amid fresh tensions with Turkey over the collapse of reconciliation efforts.Despite the political tensions, this year also saw the anniversary marked for the first time in Turkey, where rights activists and artists in Istanbul broke with taboo
“This pain is our pain, his mourning is the mourning of all of us” was written on the banner on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the deportation of Armenians. More than 500 people gathered around the banner in Taksim/Istanbul for a silent commemoration.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — As a candidate, Barack Obama repeatedly promised to refer to the almost century-old massacre of Armenians in Turkey as a genocide. But since becoming president, Obama has twice passed up opportunities to do so.
U.S. President Barack Obama avoided using ‘genocide’ to describe the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in a statement released by the White House on Saturday. (UPDATED)
The dreaded day arrived once again, and US President Barack Obama did not use the word ?genocide? in the written statement he issued on April 24, the day on which Armenians commemorate the incidents of 1915. What did he do instead?
Anyone who wants to close the debate on what happened to Armenians in 1915 should start by describing the events as genocide. They are, of course, free to speak as they wish. But if Turks are expected to be part of this debate, then a more constructive approach is needed. This requires avoiding language that closes the debate when in fact a lively discussion has already been going on.
US President Barack Obama, in his statement commemorating the start of forced deportation of Armenians by the Ottoman government on April 24, 1915, avoided, as he did last year, the use of the word ?genocide? to describe the events. He did the right thing, mainly for two reasons.
The United States urges Armenia and Turkey to continue efforts at reconciliation and supports Yerevan’s decision to put the process on hold, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia said on Friday
YEREVAN, Armenia – The majority coalition in the Armenian parliament says the ex-Soviet nation should freeze its ratification of an agreement to normalize ties with neighbouring Turkey.
Armenia’s three-way coalition government has reversed its earlier decision to complete ‘within days’ the parliamentary ratification of the protocols with Turkey.
The Armenian coalition government decided to take the approval of the protocols between Turkey and Armenia off the parliament’s agenda until Turkey refrains from preconditions regarding the approval. The protocols envisage the development of diplomatic relations.
On April 24 more than 100 people marked the 95th anniversary of the forced migration of Armenians by sitting around a poster that read ?This pain is our pain, this sorrow is all of ours,? in İstanbul upon the appeal of 67 intellectuals.
Turkey left behind yet another April 24 as US President Barack Obama avoided using the term ?genocide? to refer to the killings of the Armenians during the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
