05 Mar 10 | Comment, News and features, Uncategorized
Congress’s resolution condemning the 1915 Armenian genocide gives Turkey a chance to disavow a grotesque state crime and abandon its hideous charade of bullying, propaganda and falsified history says Nouritza Matossian
(more…)
15 Feb 10 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Hackers took control of the website of Agos, a leading Turkish-Armenian newspaper last Friday, the cyber-attackers uploaded images of the alleged murderer of the newspaper’s former editor-in-chief, and winner of the Index on Censorship’s 2008 journalism award, Hrant Dink. The hackers claimed there would be more of the same if the newspaper did not fix its reporting to “the way we see fit”. Agos has regularly published articles about the Armenian genocide.
23 Oct 09 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of prominent opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak, faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years for “organising mass disorder”. Pashinyan was responsible for organising the March 2008 mass protests that followed the disputed presidential elections. Pashinyan went into hiding following the events, but gave himself in to police on 1 July. Pashinyan, however, argued that his actions in organising the protest were within the law. Moreover, his lawyer urged the court to change the judge hearing the case, as current judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan had been highly criticised for his handling of a similar case earlier in the year. The trial began on the 20 October. (IPI)
Read more
05 Mar 08 | News and features
At least eight people were killed and dozens more were injured in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Saturday following clashes between authorities and protestors gathered in support of the defeated presidential candidate, Levon Ter-Petrosian.
(more…)
24 Apr 07 | Comment
Two resolutions, one introduced in the House in January and in the Senate in March, seek to recognise the events of 1915 as genocide, but the passage of either could jeopardise the US’s political relationship with Turkey. The resolutions are pending approval from committees in both houses.
Turkey, as an American ally, has allowed the US to use its military bases and has played a significant role in American efforts in Iraq. Both the Bush administration and the Turkish government have condemned the move, and though the resolutions are non-binding, if passed, they could be interpreted by Turkey as acts of hostility.
Turkey, in its quest for EU membership, has denied that what happened between 1915 and 1923 to the country’s Armenian population is genocide. Some things, however, are undisputed: in 1915, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, authorities forced the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Turkey’s 1.75 million Armenians. The estimated number of Armenians that died ranges between 300,000 and 1.5 million.
The Armenian National Committee of America is one of the most outspoken campaign groups in support of the resolution. ANCA spokeswoman Elizabeth Chouldjian said the issue at hand is a moral one. ‘America needs to be on the right side of the issue,’ she said. ‘Not characterizing genocide as genocide is dangerous. We have to take every precaution to end the cycle of genocide.’
The hope, she said, is that if the US recognises the killings as genocide, Turkey would be forced to take a more open and honest approach in re-examining its history.
‘Recognition is not going to change the facts of what happened, but it can certainly relieve the emotional burden on Armenians and other victims of genocide,’ said Ronald Suny, a professor and historian at the University of Michigan. ‘We think of recognition as the first step of clearing the air and letting historians and politicians deal with the issue.’
But Andrew Finkel, an Istanbul-based journalist, said that the issue of addressing Armenians’ sense of injury and grievance won’t eradicate problems that hinder a discussion from taking place within Turkey. ‘It would provoke a tit-for-tat counter reaction,’ he said.
In fact, he said, a US resolution would make the struggle for human rights and free expression in Turkey more difficult. Within this overtly political debate lies the question of historical accuracy and historians’ and scholars’ ability to have open discourse about contentious issues within the country. Free expression in Turkey is curbed by draconian articles in the country’s penal code, but pressure from the US won’t effect the sort of change that the country needs. ‘The more important resolution is that Turks themselves face up to their history,’ Finkel said.
The Bush administration takes a similar stance. The state department has said the administration doesn’t want to politicise an issue that should be resolved through discussion within Turkey. On 11 April, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said: ‘The United States doesn’t deny any of the killings. They’re an established historical fact, but historians need to discuss the details of what happened, why it happened, who did what. This needs to happen, and it needs to happen as a process of genuine national reconciliation.’
To date, 38 states in the US and 19 countries worldwide have officially recognised the genocide. The resolution in the House of Representatives is pending a decision from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the resolution in the Senate is pending in the Committee on Foreign Relations.
