April 24 roundup (Part II)

April 24: A time for optimism and pessimism

A Requiem for Armenians–a Sequel

[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News] My latest piece in these pages, “For the fear of God: A requiem for Armenians,” proved to be quite controversial. And I, as usual, was blamed by some readers for being a bunch of nasty things. (A “traitor” to my own nation who is funded by evil foreigners, a “fake” Turk who hides his crypto-Armenianness, or a deceitful Islamist hell-bent on destroying secular Turkey.) I am not going to waste my time by trying to explain that I am really not the man in these caricatures — or that I really don’t have fangs and claws. But let me try to explain why I wrote a requiem on April 24 for the Armenians who perished in 1915. Because I hope that the reasoning (and the sentiment) that I followed might also help other Turks build a more righteous attitude in this poisonous controversy.

Armenian genocide and Turkey: then and now , Vicken Cheterian

For Armenians everywhere, 24 April is a day of special commemoration. It marks the beginning of the genocide of 1915: the uprooting or killing by the leading figures of the Ottoman state of almost all the 2.2 million Armenians who lived in historic Armenia, using the circumstances of Europe?s ?great war? as a pretext.

The ninety-fifth anniversary on 24 April 2010 finds the issue as potent as ever in the global consciousness as well as in the Armenian world. It is discussed in the international arena at all levels of political, diplomatic, historical and cultural life; its recognition as a historical reality has become a factor in the deliberations of many legislative bodies, such as the United States house of representatives’ foreign-affairs committee and the Swedish parliament (both in March 2010).

My Meds Yeghern is Bigger than Your Meds Yeghern

For the record.

Mavi Boncuk |
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 24, 2009

Statement of President Barack Obama on Armenian Remembrance Day

Ninety four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th century began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The Meds Yeghern must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in the hearts of the Armenian people.

ASALA Resurrected?

Mavi Boncuk
Armenian terrorist organization ASALA [1] reiterated its claim of land against Turkey. Issuing a statement through Armenian news agencies for the 95th anniversary of so called Armenian genocide, Armenian terrorist organization ASALA which assassinated 47 Turkish diplomats, reiterated its claim of land against Turkey. Terrorist organization stated that “the lands that belong to Armenians” should be liberated.

ANCA “yet another disgraceful capitulation”

Mavi Boncuk |
Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918 * Fax. (202) 775-5648 * Email.anca@anca.org

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release ~ 2010-04-24
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian ~ Tel: (202) 775-1918

PRESIDENT OBAMA FAILS TO HONOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PLEDGE ONCE AGAIN

April 24th statement avoids ?genocide? characterization

WASHINGTON, DC ? In yet another disgraceful capitulation to Turkey?s threats, President Obama today once again failed to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide, offering euphemisms and evasive terminology to characterize this crime against humanity, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Meds Yeghern is Great Calamity for All

This is from a 2009 article. Nothing has changed. Both sides are upset. Same old same old.
Mavi Boncuk |
?Meds Yeghern? by SUAT KINIKLIOĞLU [1]
Excerpt

Turkish Coalition of America Responds to Obama

Mavi Boncuk |

TURKISH COALITION OF AMERICA – TCA
1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW – Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: 202-370-1399 Fax: 202-370-1398 Email: info@tc-america.org

Turkish Coalition of America Responds to
President Obama’s Statement

April 24, 2010, Washington, DC – Today, President Barack Obama issued a presidential statement marking “Armenian Remembrance Day.” Turkish Americans share the grief of Armenian Americans who lost their family members during those dreadful events nearly a century ago. In fact, in a 2009 letter to President Obama, signed by over 50 Turkish American associations, Turkish Americans stated that they mourn Armenian losses in those years as their mourn their own. This dual tragedy is not forgotten.

For The Fear of God: A Requiem For Armenians

from The White Path [Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News] Ninety-five years ago, on this very day, a dark episode began in the crumbling Ottoman Empire. Around 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders were arrested in Istanbul and deported to Anatolia, never to return. The real catastrophe began a month later. The Union and Progress government, the Young Turk Party that overtook the empire with a military coup in 1913, passed an Expulsion Law, giving itself the authority to deport anyone that is deemed as a threat to national security. Armenians were the real target. Soon, in almost every city and town in eastern Anatolia, they were forced out of their homes and destined to the far and arid Syria. In some places, they were transported by trains, but most were forced to march for hundreds of kilometers, often without food and water. Many perished on the road, out of famine, dehydration and disease. (The photos showing these victims, especially the starving children and babies, are painful for anyone with a conscious.) In other cases, there were massacres committed by the locals, driven either by hatred or the lust to confiscate the victim’s properties.

Meds Yeghern 2012

Recommended Statement of the President- elect 2012 on WW1 Remembrance Day “Meds Yeghern”

On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In that dark moment of history, millions of people Armenians as well as Turks were massacred to their death during the final days of the WW1.

The Train That Carried the Armenians

The photo above is one of the ‘evidences’ which the Armenian lobby uses to prove that the tragedy of 1915 was a genocide. In fact, the very same photo is enough proof to show that it was not a genocide; but a massive, ill-fated deportation. Why?