From: Bernard Nazarian
I’m grateful for sending me the e-mail trail containing Mr K Zaim’s unfortunate comments in very unjust praise of Turkey and its current leaders. I would like to add my own critical comments but am somewhat restricted as I can only express them in English. I was wondering if you could kindly forward them to Mr Zaim privately, or whether the relevant site would consider publishing them in English. If so I’d be happy to forward to send my comments to you and you could kindly forward them as appropriate.
Meanwhile I forward you this below which throws some light on the still very much pan-Turkist policy of the Turkish state, including its current “mildly Islamic” government which is every bit as aggressively racist-nationalist-denialist as its predecessors as this article makes clear – not to mention its attitude towards the Kurds, Alevi’s let alone its Christian minorities (Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians). Perhaps you could forward this to Mr Zaim too for his benefit.
I wonder what our Kurdish compatriots will make of Mr Zaim’s unjust praises of Turkey!
Kind regards,
Bernard
Two Faces of Turkey: Veneer of Gentility Masking Ruthlessness
By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
When Turkey’s Foreign Minister met secretly with a group of Armenians in Washington last month, he wooed them with his sly smile and sugar-coated words. This was the fake façade of traditional Turkish diplomacy.
Last week, Turkey’s UN Ambassador in New York revealed the nasty and aggressive face of his government. Upon learning that a symposium on the Armenian Genocide was going to be held at the UN on April 12, Turkey’s Permanent Representative filed a protest with the Secretary General’s office, trying to disrupt the event.
Organized by the Association for Trauma Outreach & Prevention (ATOP), the event was titled: “Toward Preventing Genocide, Nations Acknowledging their Dark History: Psychosocial, Economic and Cultural Perspectives.” Following screening of Dr. J. Michael Hagopian’s documentary, “The River Ran Red,” the attendees heard addresses from filmmaker Carla Garapedian, Dr. Dennis Papazian, Prof. Ervin Staub, and Garen Nazarian, Armenia’s UN Ambassador.
Encouraged by Turkey’s 2007 success in obstructing a reference to the Armenian Genocide in a UN exhibit on Rwanda, the Turkish Ambassador tried to force the UN to cancel last week’s Armenian Genocide symposium. Fortunately, Armenia’s UN Mission, official sponsor of the event, stood its ground and the symposium took place as planned, albeit with some minor disturbances.
At the start of the event, two Turkish diplomats entered the meeting room without an invitation, and repeatedly attempted to disrupt the proceedings. They kept on shouting, accusing the speakers of defaming Turkey, and refused to comply with the organizer’s request to submit all comments and questions in writing. As the commotion continued, UN security officers were called in, and the two undiplomatic Turkish diplomats left the hall, inanely shouting: “we are the security, we own the security, and we pay for the security!”
In his introductory remarks, Amb. Nazarian observed that “97 years ago, a state-devised plan unleashed a crime whose magnitude and consequences were unparalleled not only in the history of the Armenian nation but also in the history of the world. The plan of extermination of the Armenians was implemented by the Ottoman Empire’s state machine through all its structures and carried out with exact instructions.”
Prof. Papazian’s remarks were titled: “Sovereignty, Nationalism, Racism vs. Humanism and Intellectual Freedom: The Causes and Cures of Genocide.” He expressed his discontent “that the Armenian Genocide is not recognized by the present day Turkish government as a crime committed by its predecessor government under the dictatorship of the Committee for Union and Progress”; “that the people of Turkey are denied free access to accurate sources because of Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code which makes it a crime to insult Turkishness”; and “that such [Ottoman] collections as the confiscated properties archives and the military archives are not open to inspection by objective scholars.”
Prof. Staub spoke about “Overcoming Evil: Preventing Genocide and Creating Peaceful Societies.” He stated that “acknowledgement by perpetrators, bystanders, and the world in general of a group's suffering has great value for both healing and reconciliation.” However, “perpetrators rarely, and only with great difficulty, acknowledge their acts and show regret,” because of “their profound devaluation of the victims, their ideology, and their unacknowledged shame.”
Carla Garapedian explored the “Economic Consequences of Acknowledging the Genocide.” She related that J. Michael Hagopian had recorded the testimonies of genocide survivors so that their voices would be heard someday at an international tribunal deciding what restitution Turkey would have to pay to heirs of the victims.
Not counting the value of the properties, lands and other assets confiscated from Armenian victims of the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government, Garapedian assessed as $15 billion the restitution value of the 1.5 million Armenians who had perished. Her estimate is based on Germany’s $60 billion restitution payment for the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust since 1952. Garapedian concluded by suggesting that no state should profit from violating the law and unjustly enrich itself, asserting that a criminal state should not be allowed to keep the fruits of its crime.
Bernard Nazarian |
Dear Mr. Nazarian,
Thank you for taking time to comment on my message concerning the insulting rhetoric of an official IRI website toward Turkish leadership. You cannot imagine how much I agree with your sentiments concerning the atrocities they committed to Armenian, Kurdish, Alawi and Christian citizens of their own country. The genocide committed to the Armenian population was only next to British famine genocide of WW I in Iran which took 5 million lives, and the genocide of Jews by Nazis.
Of all these, I have written about Armenian genocide the most. If late Bishop Manoukian of Tehran were alive today, he would’ve told you that next to Iran, I love Armenia. Some Pre- independence Armenian nationalists and post-independence officials knew they could count on me. I was an outspoken and effective advocate of assisting Armenia to keep its new border with Iran and for assisting Armenia economically and politically. I had also called for a cooperation pact with Armenia and Greece.
Concerning the Kurds, if you had read some of my writings and interviews, you would not have questioned my feelings and intensions. In short, I have called Kurds Iranian citizens wherever they are and that wherever they are there is Iran. Kurdish leaders are aware of my sentiments.
All that is no free pass for insulting heads of a State. It is un-Iranian. It is stupid. And it can harm our relations unnecessarily. Unless we conduct ourselves with dignity, tolerance and respect, we cannot expect to have a bending ear when we need it, in order to protect our national interest.
Please do not expect me to act on emotions and personal likes and dislikes, when it can damage what we expect to achieve in foreseeable future. Ask me next year about what my political motives are in defending Iranian sense of dignity, respect for neighbors, peace and cooperation.
With my best wishes,
Kourosh Zaim
April 19, 2012 (31 Farvardin 1391) |
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