3264) How Ara Sarafian Excavates Words & Figures Through His Own Imagination From Ambiguous Notes

Gomidas Institute
© 2011 Ara Sarafian

CONTENTS
Introduction by Ara Sarafian
Map
TALAAT PASHA’S 1917 REPORT
Opening Summary Page: Data and Calculations
WESTERN PROVINCES (MAP)
Constantinople
Edirne vilayet
Chatalja mutasarriflik
Izmit mutasarriflik
Hudavendigar (Bursa) vilayet
Karesi mutasarriflik 28
Kala-i Sultaniye (Chanakkale) mutasarriflik
Eskishehir vilayet
Aydin vilayet
Kutahya mutasarriflik
Afyon Karahisar mutasarriflik
Konia vilayet
Menteshe mutasarriflik
Teke (Antalya) mutasarriflik
CENTRAL PROVINCES (MAP)
Ankara (Angora) vilayet
Bolu mutasarriflik
Kastamonu vilayet 40
Janik (Samsun) mutasarriflik
Nigde mutasarriflik
Kayseri mutasarriflik
Adana vilayet
Ichil mutasarriflik
EASTERN PROVINCES (MAP)
Sivas vilayet
Erzerum vilayet
Bitlis vilayet
Van vilayet
Trebizond vilayet
Mamuretulaziz (Elazig) vilayet
SOUTH EASTERN PROVINCES AND RESETTLEMENT ZONE (MAP)
Marash mutasarriflik
Aleppo (Halep) vilayet
Urfa mutasarriflik
Diyarbekir vilayet
Syria vilayet
Zor mutasarriflik
Mosul vilayet
Beirut vilayet
Jerusalem (Kudus-i Sherif) vilayet
Appendix 1: A Report from the Turkish Military Archives
Appendix 2: Talaat’s “Black Booklet”
Map 1: Destruction of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-17
Map 2: Surviving Armenian Deportees in the Ottoman Empire, 1917

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31 May 2011

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Updated with the Further Notes as follows :
8 June 2011

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Source: TruckTurkey

Following the publication of the book named ‘Talat Pasha Evrak-ı Metrukesi (Documents Left Behind by Talat Pasha) by Murat Bardakçı in 2008, there were many interpretations of the book as well as many extreme meanings attributed to it both in Turkey and in the west in the name of historiography.



Many comments were flying around some of which were,



‘Denied Deir-El-Zor Massacres’ by Sarafian;

Claim of Hilmar Kaiser about his ‘Death Record’ being a slap in the faces of Turkish historians (Sabrina Tavernise NYT March 8, 2009 - Nearly a Million Genocide Victims, Covered in a Cloak of Amnesia);

Taner Akçam finding the number of the deported low;

Yusuf Halaçoğlu finding the number of the deported high;

Fuat Dündar announcing the document to be the most important of all;

Kemal Çiçek finding the document worthless.



While this theatrical phenomenon of subjective historiography was going on in March 2009, I managed to publish in chronological order the official documents and statistics gathered from US-Armenian and European sources about the relocations of Ottoman Armenians until end of 1920 (until when the Turkish-Armenian War continued).

Link : Armenian Refugees Movements & Genocide Claims

The ‘Death Record’ claimed to be a slap in the faces of Turkish historians by Hilmar Kaiser must have been a slap in his on face after the documents I published, not to mention the fact that nothing serious was heard about the documents of Talat Pasha from that side.

By SABRINA TAVERNISE Published: March 8, 2009 NYT

Further more Taner Akçam, making a sudden reduction of 50% in his claim for the death toll of so-called genocide victims, announced the number as 800,000 in the TV program of Balçiçek Pamir which was a more defendable figure for him although the claim about the number of the so-called genocide victims by the related institutions and committees was 1.5 million.



Not being contented with the documents I published, we also issued the official records of League of Nations about the aid activities for Armenian Refugees.



However, Mr. Ara Sarafian, chairman of Gomidas Institute most probably was not very pleased with the outcome since he attempted to relate miraculously the ‘Deported Armenian’ records in the documents of Talat Pasha with the telegraphs of 1917, with the dream of coming up with a miracle result for the relocation.

[ Generated Analysis by Sarafian about Talat Paşa Evrak-ı Metrukesi ]



Let me remind all of you who express their opinions based on comments by Sarafian of some points one more time:



1) It is very clear that the document presenting the general condition of Armenians after the relocation and attributed to Talat Pasha is used to try to give an image as if it is representing truths recently surfaced (that were being hid on purpose before) although a copy of the very same document with the same hand-writing is with the Attache archives and the telegraphs of 1917 that are referenced by Sarafian are in the Ottoman archives. The aim becomes evident when we hear the claims that the document had been prepared specially for Talat Pasha in order for him to be able to control the number of survivors and to mask the process as a security measure. Unfortunately when you do a simple math on 1914 population census figures, figures on the telegraphs of 1917 and numbers in Attache archives, you get the same result with the document attributed to Talat Pasha, all of these documents being readily available in the archives for many years. Also in the history journal issued by NTV, there is a document published by Derya Tulga dated November 2nd, 1922 and having a stamp on it as ‘true copy’ presenting the number of Armenians relocated as 924,158. The document published by Bardakçı about Talat Pasha is neither a secret nor something specially prepared for him.

Published by Derya Tulga in The NTV History Journal

2) In addition the expressions of Sarafian of ‘masking this process as a security measure’ and ‘his report was not meant for public disclosure and may well have been destroyed were it not for Talat’s untimely death in 1921’ are not appropriate and hereby I remind Sarafian of the official document prepared by American Ambassador Jackson dated February 3rd, 1916 about the Armenian population in Iraq and Syria. Someone who was in the intention of exterminating Armenians secretly would certainly not get Armenians counted by the American Ambassador with the presence of Armenian reverends.

[ US Archives State Department Record Group 59, 867.48/271 by Ara Sarafian, United States Official Documents on the Armenian Genocide, Vol II, s. 112-113 ]

3) Another remarkable comment by Sarafian is ‘Consequently, the eastern provinces of Erzerum, Bitlis, Van, Diyarbekir, Trebizond, Elazig and Janik were not included in the survey because they had been ordered to clear out their Armenian populations in the initial stages of deportations’. Sarafian went too far by further deepening his claim with the remark of ‘Talat knew that many Armenians had managed to escape from the Ottoman Empire, such as those who resisted Ottoman forces in Van in April 1915, as well as those who managed to flee across the Russian border in 1915-16. The number of people who escaped was probably around 150,000 and their ultimate survival was by no means clear. Thousands subsequently perished from privation and disease’. Sarafian did not even have to make any effort to see that a document belonging Lord Major Found proved that the number of the fleeing ones was 250,000 alone in 1915 and that Armenians were not only fleeing from Van but other provinces too.In addition to this, the number of the fleeing ones in the following years to Caucasia, Southern Russia and Iran is no less than 500,000.

Armenian refugees: Lord Mayor's Fund

nationalarchives.gov.uk

4) As a result Sarafian claims that 900,000 Armenians had been systemically terminated by basing his claim also on telegraphs of 1917. In response to this Fuat Dündar claims that since the document attributed to Talat Pasha does not include the number of Armenians in general assembly areas like Deir-El-Zor or Mosul but only includes the ones counted in the cities, there is no way that the claim of Sarafian about the number of Armenians who died can be true. Either way, it is not possible to form a claim based on the document attributed to Talat Pasha or on the telegraphs of 1917. However if Sarafian is in the intention of attaching to his claim for life, then he has to come up with other official and historical documents. He can start by checking the official documents from American archives proving that the number of survivors in Ottoman borders in 1921 is 624,900. He can then also take a look at the documents presented to the League of Nations if he wishes. He can even present the documents.I included in my article headed ‘Armenian Refugees Movement and Genocide Claims’ to world’s public opinion before the article becomes a slap in the face to Sabrina Tavernise. None of these documents are from Turkish archives, they are all official documents and they all include historical information and dates.

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration - NARA, T 1192 R2. 860J.01

The document in Talat’s archive brings forth the following:

* The document does not include either dates or a general outcome based on calculations and therefore does not have unique importance alone in its current form.

* It becomes an extra useful item for calculation following the presentation of Armenian Refugee numbers from the archives of League of Nations in years following WW1.

* It is useful in the sense that it pulls down the baseless claim of Armenian Patriarchate about the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire before 1914 of 2 million back to its real levels of 1.5 million.


* What has been said and commented about the document produce more efficient results than what is included in the document itself.

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3263) Internet Enemies | State of the Internet Outpaces State of Internet Legislation

State of the Internet Outpaces State of Internet Legislation? by Banu Akdenizli*
* Yeditepe University, Turkey

Abstract

It is of common understanding that ICTs play a vital role in the social, political and economic development of every country. But every country does not welcome this technology without struggles. This study looks into the particular case of Turkey. As a semi-periphery country Turkey has been in a unique position, not only geographically and economically, but also politically and culturally. As a country with a predominantly Muslim population Turkey, considered by many as the only Muslim democracy, also has aspirations to become a member of the European Union (EU). A former study by this Author (2007) analyzed the period of 1997-2004 of Internet policy development in Turkey as it unfolded within the context of then current debates regarding globalization forces and the nation-state. This paper picks up where the old one left off, and looks into the most recent influences incorporated in the patterning of Internet development in Turkey. Turkey’s Internet journey, the initiatives relative to the expansion of the Internet in comparison to attempts to control and regulate Internet content does not only demonstrate how adopting the Internet has been a double-edged sword for some countries but could also on a larger scale offer insight to the discussion on the compatibility of Islam and the Western definition of democracy.

Keywords: Internet policy, Turkey, globalization, telecommunication

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Internet Enemies- 12 Mar 2011 World Day Against Censorship

World Map Of Cybercensorship

Internet Enemies
Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Under Surveillance
Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Libya, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela. . .

State of the Internet Outpaces State of Internet Legislation by Banu Akdenizli*

As the world has become more interconnected the power of the nation-state is being restructured. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet have and are transforming and even in some cases destabilizing governance and power. It is of common understanding now that ICTs play a vital role in the social, political and economic development of every country. But every country does not welcome this technology without struggles. This study looks into the particular case of Turkey. As a semi-periphery country (as research suggests efforts of the state to pattern the ICT policies will be seen more directly in such countries) Turkey has been in a unique position, not only geographically and economically, but also politically and culturally. As a country with a predominantly Muslim population Turkey, considered by many as the only Muslim democracy, also has aspirations to become a member of the European Union (EU).

A former study by this author “Toward a Healthier Understanding of Internet Policy Development: The Case of Turkey” analyzed the period of 1997-2004 of Internet policy development in Turkey as it unfolded within the context of then current debates regarding globalization forces and the nation-state. Through the...







Internet Enemies- 12 Mar 2011 World Day Against Censorship

World Map Of Cybercensorship

Internet Enemies
Burma
China
Cuba
Iran
North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Vietnam

Under Surveillance
Australia
Bahrain
Belarus
Egypt
Eritrea
France
Libya
Malaysia
Russia
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Venezuela






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1. Internet Enemies | State of the Internet Outpaces State of Internet Legislation


2. Internet Censorship In Turkey
   Balkan Investigative Reporting Handbook


3. How Free Is The Media - Internet Governance
   Advocacy Handbook

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3262) The Armenian Weekly April 2011 Special

1. Justice As Cure By Khatchig Mouradian
2. ‘A Question of Genocide’. . . and More Questions —By Marc Mamigonian
3. Genocide Recognition and a Quest for Justice —By Harut Sassounian
4. April 24th: Remembrance Devoid of Inspiration and Commitment—By Michael G. Mensoian
5. One Hundred Years of Abandonment—By Talin Suciyan and Ayda Erbal
6. ‘Reparations’ as an Essential Element of any Just Resolution of Genocide—By Henry C. Theriault
7. Confiscation & Colonization: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property—By Ugur Ümit Üngör
8. Shattering Fifty Years of Silence—By Michael Bobelian
9. A Demographic Narrative of Diyarbekir Province Based on Ottoman Records—By George Aghjayan
10. Narek’s Prayer—By Knarik O. Meneshian
11. Wilmington Students Lobby for Armenian Genocide Stamp—By Tom Vartebedian
12. Lost Innocence—By Kristi Rendahl
13. The bare-bare bone—By Burcu Gürsel

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3261) April 24, May 4 : The New Step Of Decline For The Transnational Armenian Activism by Maxime Gauin*

The decline of the actions carried out by the Armenian nationalist organizations, noticeable since some years, was confirmed during the Spring 2011 especially in the United States. In Washington, the annual demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy was challenged by a Turkish counter-demonstration, which received the — needed — protection of the police. In Los Angeles, the traditional fortress of the Diasporic Armenian nationalism since decades, the Turkish Airlines (THY) were able to obtain a strong position in the airport, despite the strident protests. Cleverly, THY has chosen a Turkish Armenian, born in Sivas (Central-Eastern Anatolia) as its representative in Los Angeles. . . In San Francisco, for the traditional demonstration of April 23, the number of participants was smaller than never since many years; the great majority of the participants were elderly or middle age peoples; they were less than enthusiastic.

Actually, they had no reason to show any enthusiasm. For the first time since more than ten years, the traditional draft of resolution “recognizing the Armenian genocide” was not put on the agenda of US Congress at the expected time (April). Virginia Foxx, co-chair of the Turkish Caucus, and whose son-in-law is of Turkish origin, explained that in the current Congress (2011-2013) there will be no “recognition”. Even the vast majority of the US Armenian nationalists have few illusions on this topic. They failed to obtain the “recognition” when Nancy Pelosi, elected from California and a long advocate of the Armenian “genocide” claims, was President of the House of Representatives; according to Ms. Pelosi herself, there was no majority for the “recognition”. They can hardly achieve their goal in a Congress whose President is a strong opponent to “recognition”. Quite the contrary, the US Congress celebrated on March 31 the 10th anniversary of the Turkish Caucus. 28 Members of Congress and nearly 300 congressional staffers attended the events, including Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and grand-daughter of two American ladies of Ottoman Jewish origin. In addition, the Democrat Edolphus Town introduced a new resolution praising Turkey’s parliamentary democracy ahead of April 23, which marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Parliament (1920) and is officially celebrated as National Sovereignty and Children’s Day since 1924.

Despite an obvious bias of not mention the Muslim and Jewish victims and using the grossly exaggerated figure of 1,500,000 Armenian casualties, President Barack Obama avoided one more time to use the word “genocide” on April 24. So, the Armenian American organizations understood that they have nothing to expect both from Democrats and Republicans. Mr. Bush Jr. and Mr. Obama both promised to obtain Armenian support to “recognize the genocide” and immediately after their election, they did all what was needed to prevent such a “recognition”. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and its political arm, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), express a strong bitterness against Mr. Obama and even Ms. Pelosi since several months, but they know perfectly that the Republican Party is even more reluctant to accept their demands. The legal victory of the historian Guenter Lewy against calumny gave the final change to the ambiance.

The situation is a bit similar in France. Like in the USA, the number of the participants to the demonstrations in Paris, Lyon and Marseille continues to decrease. The bill criminalizing “the contestation of the existence of the Armenian genocide” was rejected by a large majority of the Senators on May 4. The Committee of Law presented a “motion d’irrecevabilité”, asked the rejection without discussion of the bill. 196 Senators voted for the motion (i.e. against the law), 74 for, the others abstained or did not participate to the vote. Initially, the idea presented to block the bill was a rejection by the conference of presidents (Chairman of the Senate, Chairmen of the Committees and groups). The solution actually carried out is more effective. The Coordinating Council of France’s Armenian Associations (CCAF),specifically its more active component the ARF, claimed that the Socialist Party has been supporting the bill since several months. Actually, the majority of the Socialist Senators, including their Chairman Jean-Pierre Bel, voted for the “motion d’irrecevabilité” or abstained, and the national council of the Party did not express any support to the law. The discussions and the results showed that the limit is not between political parties, but mostly between the Senators elected from districts by Armenian community and the other Senators, who are not subjected to electoral pressure, on themselves or on their political friends. Both the Socialist Charles Gautier and the UMP Josselin de Rohan expressed a radical opposition to the bill; both the UMP Bruno Gilles and the Socialist Jean-Noël Guérini advocated for the vote of the bill. Mr. Gautier warned rightfully against derivation of ethnic conflicts and argued for the necessity to look at the future. Mr. de Rohan called correctly the bill “liberticidal, inquisitorial and obscurantist”. Even some Socialist and UMP Senators — especially Jean-Claude Gaudin, Chairman of the UMP group — who advocated for the Armenian “genocide” claims before avoided to give any support to this bill.

The CCAF and its components committed a mayor error in continuing to focus, after 2007, on the vote of the criminalization law, which had no real chance to be voted. Similarly, the ANCA and, to a lesser degree, its rival, the Armenian Assembly of America, duped themselves in believing the promises of Mr. Bush Jr. and Mr. Obama. The single goal which could rally a substantial number of Armenians on the two rivers of the Atlantic is the support to the Armenian Republic. But it is obvious, for a certain time, and even for the most nationalist persons, that the huge quantities of money distributed to Armenia failed to develop the country completely, and are largely wasted because the corruption and the administrative ineptness. Since their inhabitants are desperate by the misery and the lack of civil liberties, Armenia and the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” continue to lose population. . The condemnation of the ARF activist Movsès Nissanian, for libel against the author of this article (April 2010), and the indictment of Laurent Leylekian, former executive director (2001-2009) of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (the EU’s counterpart of ANCA), for defamation against Sırma Oran, created what the Armenian nationalists themselves call “a climate of legal insecurity”.

However, the political consequences are more serious in France, a country where the absolute and relative numbers of peoples with Armenian heritage are less strong than in USA. Moreover, the tradition of assimilation has already caused irreparable damages to the structures of the Armenian community in France.

Paradoxically, it was the small Armenian community of Switzerland which was the most close to the success with year with the project of an huge memorial in Geneva. However, the Swiss media allowed the Swiss Turks, especially Celâl Bayar, grandson of the Turkish Prime minister (1937-1939) and President (1950-1960), to express their point of view creating a mood which was unimaginable some years ago. On the other hand, there are still serious legal problems with the project of memorial, and the future mayor of Geneva is opposed to this project.

All these facts demonstrate the necessity to challenge the Armenian nationalists by a coherent strategy, including a rational argumentation on history (the works of Guenter Lewy and Erman Şahin are exemplary in this perspective) but also by legal cases. Hence, the extremist organizations would eventually be separated from the majority of the Armenians, especially from the majority of the citizens of the Armenian Republic.

*Maxime Gauin is a visiting researcher at USAK.

5 May 2011

http://www.turkishweekly.net/op-ed/2819/april-24-may-4-the-new-step-of-decline-for-the-transnational-armenian-activism.html.

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3260) Harut Sassounian Discusses Armenian Genocide On Fox TV (Video)

FOX-TV: Joining us now is Harut Sassounian, the president of the United Armenian Fund. He’s also publisher of the California Courier, a newspaper here in Southern California, published out of Glendale. It is the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. And it’s also kind of a confusing issue for a lot of us, because Armenian-Americans want the president to say, to claim that this was genocide. And yet, you just told me prior to coming on the newscast that really it doesn’t matter whether the president says it or not. Why?


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SASSOUNIAN: Because we already have another president, Ronald Reagan, 30 years ago in 1981, who issued a presidential proclamation in which he mentioned the words Armenian Genocide. Plus, we have two congressional resolutions, in 1975 and 1984, commemorating the Armenian Genocide. . .

FOX-TV: Mr. Sassounian, then one would ask, and people who are not that familiar with the 1915 genocide would say, why are you protesting out in front of the Turkish consulate? SASSOUNIAN: We are simply protesting to let the president know, and every other politician know that if you come to us as a candidate and make [empty] promises and later on you get elected with our votes and money, we’re not going to just remain silent, we’re going to express our disagreement and we’re going to make sure that you’re not re-elected.

FOX-TV: It’s not then good enough to have just the proclamation by Pres. Reagan; to have the Dept. of Justice write in a 1951 paper that it was genocide. You want that confirmed by the current administration? SASSOUNIAN: It would be nice if they confirm it, but we are trying to send a message to the president and all politicians that if you make a promise to the people, you have to keep your promise. You can’t make a false promise, get their money, get their votes, and then act like nothing happened! They have to pay a price! We have to change the whole political charade in this country where you just lie to the public and get away with it.

FOX-TV: With Turkey being such a strategic ally of the United States, do you expect any president now or after this to come out and say, “The Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Armenians?” SASSOUNIAN: There is a big difference between politics and historical facts. Historical facts do not change with time. If an event happened, it happened! …So our alliances or relationships, good or bad, should not affect the facts of history.

FOX-TV: Yesterday Armenian boxer Vic Darchinyan, on his trunks, when he was in the ring, were in big numerals 1915, and on a sports blog, the blogger said “In case you haven’t heard about the Armenian Genocide …” and then started to explain it. Does it upset you that so many people outside of Armenian-Americans really are ignorant about this? SASSOUNIAN: That doesn’t upset me because most people don’t know much about the world. They don’t follow the news very closely, as some of us do. What upsets me more is when you said at the top of the introduction of this news item “Armenians claim genocide.” Armenians are not the ones claiming genocide. The whole world knows there was a genocide. Hundreds of historians, 43 US states, Congress twice, President Reagan, 25 different countries have passed parliamentary resolutions. Just because Turkey, the successor of the criminal regime, denies it, that doesn’t make it an allegation or a claim. It’s a historical fact. For political reasons, Turks don’t want to face up to their own history.

FOX-TV: And I think that was written, we were reporting that for the purpose of showing the contrast between Armenians and Turks. And yet, your point is well taken. Thank you for the correction.

April 25, 2011 FOX-TV: Yesterday around the world, [there were] commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 — a very controversial historical event — perhaps a million and a half people died or were killed as a result of this. Joining us now is Harut Sassounian. He is the president of the United Armenian Fund and editor of the Armenian newspaper, the California Courier. We do this every year. The issue at stake is that the United States government, this president, the last president, the president before, all ran making big statements saying that the Armenian Genocide will be recognized as a genocide like the Holocaust around World War II. All three presidents run, all three presidents when they get into office, they look at Turkey, an ally we need badly in the Middle East, and they don’t do it.

SASSOUNIAN: In general, politicians are all very bad in keeping promises on all subjects. But when it comes to this subject, there’s a little unfortunate situation where people confuse politics with history. You can remain good friends, good allies, with Turkey, but at the same time not change historical facts…. So we should not mix up politics and history. We should be truthful about facts, but we can still remain friends, trade, and maintain military relations.

FOX-TV: Let me just play the devil’s advocate, as if I’m representing the president at this point. Yes, that’s true, but where I sit right now, the world where it is, leaves us in a position where we do not want to insult Turkey and they’ve made it very clear to us that they would be deeply insulted. SASSOUNIAN: First of all, this was done by the Ottoman Empire and not the Republic of Turkey which didn’t exist at the time. Secondly, Germany has no problem acknowledging what the Nazi regime did. There’s no reason why today’s Turkey should not acknowledge what was done by its predecessor….

FOX-TV: Turkey has become more and more important to us as the years go on. SASSOUNIAN: It has become more important and recently it has become a serious problem for us because they’ve become more of a radical Islamic regime; they strengthened their ties with Iran and Syria and various other radical regimes.

FOX-TV: And I believe the administration is afraid of pushing them more into that camp, if they take the step of recognition.

SASSOUNIAN: This is the problem because we compromise our principles, our values, because of geopolitical considerations. We have to separate them. We have to say here are the facts, here’s history, here are our values, and you have to live with it. The more we cater to dictators, people who deny the facts of history, the more they’re going to be demanding from us.

FOX-TV: And you know in history the Ottoman Empire, which fell right after that, the Turks say “not a genocide, it’s the fog of war, people died from war, people died from disease, it wasn’t planned, so therefore it wasn’t a genocide,” and you say…


SASSOUNIAN: There are hundreds of historians, experts on the Holocaust and the genocide who have signed a unanimous letter saying it was genocide. We have court cases, we have the United Nations, we have the European Parliament that recognized the genocide, so many countries, U.S. states, and Pres. Reagan himself said it was genocide.

FOX-TV: I know you want recognition — there has been some — but maybe not enough. What else is it that you would want? SASSOUNIAN: In fact, what we want is not really recognition, because from my point of view the world knows it was genocide. Some people don’t want to say it publicly. But what we really want is…we lost a lot beyond the people who were killed — we lost our culture, our churches, our lands, and our personal properties. Every Armenian had houses, farms, properties, and bank accounts. We’ve lost all of that. So my intent is to go to court — the World Court, the European Court, and U.S. Federal Courts. We want Turks to pay reparations, restitution and bring justice back for this massive crime they’ve committed. That’s much more important to us than the lip service that any politician would pay to us.


FOX-TV: The fact that there isn’t that one level of official recognition keeps this topic very fresh. And to some extent there’s an advantage to that because we’re still talking about it all the time. SASSOUNIAN: You’re absolutely correct…let’s forget about Pres. Obama for a second. Even if the President of Turkey tomorrow morning would say it was genocide, most people around the world and maybe even some Armenians would say that we finally reached our objective, let’s move on. So maybe it’s a good thing that the Turks keep denying it..

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3259) "How To Dramatize The Great Fire of Smyrna & Collect More Relief ?" YMCA & YWCA

"The Great Fire of Smyrna is the name commonly given to the fire that ravaged Izmir/Smyrna from 13 to 17 September 1922. Turkish armed forces systematically burned the city and killed Greek and Armenian inhabitants. This is based on extensive eyewitness evidence from Western troops sent to Smyrna during the evacuation, foreign diplomats/relief workers based at Smyrna and Turkish sources."
- Wikipedia.org



Robert Davidian's grandfather, George Magarian, born in 1895, educated at the American College at Konya, Turkey and, later, director of the Konya YMCA, filmed Smyrna, Turkey, immediately . . after it's genocidal destruction.

The resulting 35mm edited nitrate film was hidden in my grandmother's apartment in NYC for 60 years. I was lucky to transfer it to digital before it completely disintegrates. -Robert Davidian 5 March 2008

Three years ago, I met with Fulbrighter, film maker Maria Iliou, in Washington DC to restore the film and transfer it to HD video at Colorlab.

This was an initiative by Iliou & PROTEAS, funded by PROTEAS, a Greek not for profit company, that has been saving archival materials about SMYRNA and THE EXCHANGE all around the world the last 3 years. I gave them permission to include this material in their two projects, SMYRNA and EXCHANGE, that will be opening at the BENAKI MUSEUM in December 15th 2011 (SMYRNA) and February 12th 2012 (EXCHANGE) a first presentation of those images in Greece to be done by my agreement.

It is a Maria's Iliou and PROTEAS initiative, funded by BODOSSAKIS FOUNDATION, JF COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION, ARGYROS FOUNDATION, NICHOLAS BOURAS FOUNDATION, JIM CHANOS, ROY & DIANE VAGELOS FOUNDATION.

- Robert Davidian 19 April 2011 .

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3258) AGHET The Movie With English Subtitles: Exposing Numerous Distortions & German Hypocracies: Reviewed by Sukru S. Aya

Updated 17 May 2011


People Being Interviewed: ..

Cem Ozdemir
Yusuf Halacoglu
Murat Bardakci
Hasan Cemal
Fethiye Cetin
Volkan Vural

AGHET [produced by NDR (German public television)] is a new documentary made by German filmmaker Eric Friedler using the actual words of 23 German, American and other nationals who witnessed the events with archival materials.

AGHET incorporates never-before-seen footage and documents - making it one of the best researched and presented documentaries. More than just a historic retelling of the Genocide...

AGHET was debuted on NDR in April, 2010. Friedler has assembled an impeccable cast, who bring to life the original texts of German and U.S. diplomatic dispatches and eyewitness accounts, interspersed with never-before-seen footage of the Genocide and its political aftermath.

The film, applauded by Nobel Prize laureate Gunter Grass, has sparked renewed debate throughout Europe

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AGHET - With English Subtitles



AGHET Part 1
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Click Here For The Direct Link TO AGHET Part 1 Review By S Aya




AGHET Part 2

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AGHET Part 3

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AGHET Part 4

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Click Here For The Direct Link TO AGHET Part 5-7 Reviews By S Aya



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