One-sided thinking on Gallipoli an injustice
MARTIN FLANAGAN April 24, 2010
Comments 23
LEGENDS are like earthquakes. They happen. Afterwards, we try to understand the forces that created them. Anzac is an Australian legend that has a roughly analogous place to the Civil War in the American psyche. Both are stories of young nations encountering the horrors of modern warfare for the first time - that is, wars fought with repeating rifles and machineguns and appalling casualty rates. Both conflicts represent massive and unprecedented change.
As popular culture, however, what the Civil War has that Anzac doesn't is the view of both sides. In 1983, when his yacht, Australia 2, won the America's Cup, owner Alan Bond acknowledged that at one stage his crew had been losing but added "it was just like Gallipoli, and we won that one".
It would be interesting to know exactly how that comment was received in lounge rooms across Australia. Did it feel "right" to most who heard it? My guess is that it did.

Gallipoli was a military disaster. We should note that in justice to the young men who died there. Do we owe them less than we owe those who die in bushfires like Black Saturday? We should also note it in justice to future generations. The voices that urged Australia into the invasion of Iraq were of the same character as those that propelled Australia to Gallipoli in 1914. In the context of Anzac, we also need to note the extent of the debacle to appreciate the stature of the major Australian characters who emerged from it - like, for example, General Sir John Monash.
The planning at Gallipoli was a farce. Six weeks before the landing, by way of military intelligence, the British officer commanding the operation, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was equipped with two small guidebooks on Turkey and a text book on the Turkish army. Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, an English journalist covering the campaign who correctly foresaw from the outset that it was doomed, said intelligence would be acquired "at the point of a bayonet". And it was.

Monash was an engineer. Born in West Melbourne to Jewish German immigrants, Monash was of the century just beginning, a man who understood steel and concrete and modern automation. His battles were meticulously planned. The British prime minister Lloyd George described Monash "as the most resourceful general in the whole of the British Army". Monash is a giant figure in Australian history.

Propaganda was involved in shaping the popular view of Gallipoli from the start. Take the case of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, the man with the donkey. Within six weeks of his death, he had been conscripted into the propaganda war, a newspaper report describing him as ''a six-foot Australian'' with ''a woman's hands'' who said in a British-Australian accent, ''I'll take this fellow next.''

Simmo was a five-foot-eight Geordie with a stoker's hands who spoke in dialect and had fierce Labor politics. His first biographer, a fan of Churchill and acquaintance of Sir Robert Menzies, stripped him of his politics. There was no mention of boozing or fighting. The real Simmo was left in a grave at Gallipoli.

What the Australians won at Gallipoli was huge respect, including from their enemy. It really is time we started making clear to young Australians that the Anzacs didn't die protecting Australia from being invaded. Rather, we were invading a country on the other side of the world - to wit, Turkey - with whom we had no difference as a people outside the larger politics of the day.

Surely it is time we owed Turkey, and Turkish Australians, that respect. Look at the respect Turkey shows our dead.
I ask this question most seriously. Does any country in the world - other than Turkey - permit a people who tried to invade it to commemorate the fact of that attempted invasion on their shores each year? I know of not a single one. Imagine if the descendants of the Japanese pilots who bombed Darwin held an emotional service beneath the Japanese flag on the shores of Darwin Harbour each year.
My impression is that within Turkey the legend of Anzac got absorbed into the legend of Ataturk, the so-called father of modern Turkey, who, as a young man, championed the Turkish defence at Gallipoli.
It was Ataturk who declared to the mothers of Australia that their sons lay in friendly soil. A group of about 80 Turkish Australians march each year in Melbourne on Anzac Day. Anzac Day would not be the same without them.
Martin Flanagan is a senior writer.

Comments
23 comments
Yes, this most certainly needs to be pointed out as often as possible. It is no reflection on the courage and fighting qualities of ANZAC soldiers that Gallipoli was a poorly planned British 'adventure' of little military importance. What a waste of life for no apparent purpose. As someone who has visited Gallipoli, I can vouch for the reverence in which the Turkish people hold the site and the esteem they hold for Australians and New Zealanders.
dee-em Brookvale, Sydney - April 24, 2010, 12:08PM

I think you raise a valid point Martin, it is definately food for thought....
Lucy Grundy Melbourne - April 24, 2010, 12:35PM

At last an article that searches for the truth & not some rose coloured puff piece. As a child of a WW2 serviceman parent who didn't glorify war but knew & was part of horrorble events we were taught that jingoistic and distorted stories would be for the most part attempts to justify the bombast of the story telling glory seekers. Would Simpson Fitzpatrick welcome the attention of backslapping hail fellow well met Colonel Blimps, I think not. The first casualty of war is truth and a publishing industry intent on cashing in will continue to promote the myths as truth. Any life lost in any conflict is one too many. We should treasure their memory for their sacrifice to the folly of their 'betters' .

JohnS Ryde - April 24, 2010, 12:33PM
There is not one thing that is glorious about war and why we commemorate this crap while we have again invaded two nations who have done us no harm and helped to slaughter a couple of million people is beyond me.
We whine each year "lest we forget" and then wonder who we can bomb next.
And Gallipoli was a total disaster, our soldiers invaded, murdered and slunk out like the cowards they were.
Now we hide in old Taliban forts in Oruzgan and pretend we are helping Afghans while locking up Afghan refugees.
Marilyn - April 24, 2010, 12:57PM

You make a great point about Turkish hospitality Martin, a point we should reflect upon every April 25th.
There are a few points worth considering whenever this type of discussion arises, which is every year.
Gallipoli wasn't a waste of time, poorly executed, you bet but the idea had strategic merit.
If it had been successful, Turkey may have fallen by the end of 1915 early '16 opening up access to Russia and a proper second front (the ANZAC's would probably then have fought along side the Russian's on that Eastern front) WWI may then have ended some time late in 1916, early '17. No Communist Revolution, no cold war and maybe no WWII, Happy Days!
WWI was a global conflict between two superpowers, one of which our federated states had only 14 years earlier been crown colonies of, with that in mind it's easier to see why we became involved. Does anyone seriously think that we would not have?
Lastly as time goes on we seem to less and less remember that their is an NZ in ANZAC. Particularly and in relation to the commentary about Gallipoli.
Homer J South Yarra - April 24, 2010, 1:02PM

Hi Marilyn still the anti-australian australian I see.
When attempting to view events in history many of the people of today fall into the trap of "Historical fallacy" where the people of the past are judged by today's moral standards, which taken to the extreme leads anyone to decide that anyone mentioned in history is immoral and fails to take into account different social structures, technologies, beliefs, political systems and cultural influences etc of the time. In ignoring history's lessons and denying the limitations of past people we devalue their gains and are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I view it as cultural elitism over the dead through ignorance. Where as those relying on verbal history don't suffer in this way from codification rather they suffer from "cognitive bias" and can tailor the history to match whatever agenda is needed. Of course those social scientists at uni who like to dabble in social engineering wouldn't mention it to the politicians since the regard it as a kind of ethical bracket creep, which is why we will never have aboriginal reconciliation since once it nears it is pushed away again for the political agenda. Thank you Paul Keating for promoting historical fallacy and believing in the idiocy of race memory and so forever denying us reconciliation.
bill sydney - April 24, 2010, 1:12PM

I respect the decency and respect the Turks pay to their former enemies.
We Australians should overcome our blinkered thinking. We think that our enemies were/are always evil bastards and that we are always right. We think that we are great when we "win" (say "against" Japan) and great when we "lose" (say "against Turkey). Gee ... we are heroes whatever happens. Heads we win. Tails you lose!
Both Sides - April 24, 2010, 1:09PM

A big thankyou is due to Martin Flanagan. I have lived a large part of my life in a non-English speaking country and it is extraordinary how the Anglo Saxons still persist with a goodies and baddies version of historical events. Flanagan is absolutely correct in asking what Australians would think if the Japanese wanted to honour their dead in Darwin. The Anzacs participated in an invasion force that snuck up on the Turks in the middle of the night, invaded their country and tried to kill as many Turkish soldiers as possible. Last year I attended an Anzac Day service at which the enemy at Gallipoli was labelled as "evil." Australia needs to grow up. It does the fallen soldiers on both sides no disrespect to tell the truth. It is really becoming distasteful to observe the indoctrination of the young and how Anzac Day has become a day of uncommonly large profit for television stations and other spruikers of nationalistic propaganda. I recently received a brochure on Anzac Day from a would be politician at the next election. There was not a word about the futility and the tragedy of war. It dealt exclusively with how magnificent the Australian soldiers were - nothing else. It is noble to remember the soldiers who died. But it is just as important to remind ourselves that it is our responsibility to ensure that it never happens again.
Vero Blue Mountains - April 24, 2010, 1:16PM

Martin- you paint Turkey in a favourable light ( "Surely it is time we owed Turkey, and Turkish Australians, that respect")You have omitted that in the same year of the Gallipoli landing in 1915, Turkey perpetrated the mass genocide of around 1million Armenians. Atatuerk himself who at the very least particpated if not spearheaded the campaign to eradicate the Armenians.
To this day Turkey refuse to acknowledge their involvement and cut off political and economic ties with other states brave enough to brand them perpetrators in a Genocide.
Perhaps we will show Turkey the respect they deserve when they admit to the atrocities that the world has forgotten.
Amc East Brighton - April 24, 2010, 1:27PM

Bill in Sydney
Would you like to address the article, or do you prefer to write a generalised sub-standard university thesis about ... what exactly?
Would you like to argue that we weren't an invading force on foreign land? Would you like to argue, ala Bondy, that we won? Would you like to explain the behaviour of some modern Australians who travel to Turkey without a single clue as to what actually happened, and without the slightest sign of respect for the incredible hospitality of the Turks?
Or not.
Bill Melbourne - April 24, 2010, 1:33PM

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/onesided-thinking-on-gallipoli-an-injustice-20100423-tj50.html

San Antonio Express January 22, 1923
ARMENIANS, NOT TURKS SET SMYRNA ABLAZE RELIEF WORKER DECLARES

American Who Reached City Before Occupation Says Victors Not Responsible for Destruction
Photo caption:
Mark O. Prestiss
The hit her to untold story of the Smyrna fire told by Mark O. Prentiss,
American representative of the Near East Relief.

Nearly everybody in America, it appears, is convinced that the Turkswere responsible for the fire which added the final touches of tragedyto the Smyrna horror. The unanimity and firmness of this convictionsurprised me, at first, as I believe it would have surprised anybodyelse, of whatever nationality or political allegiance, who hadrecently come from the scene of the disaster. The motive, usuallyconsidered of supreme importance in crimes of this sort, does notclearly point toward the Turks. They had captured Smyrna. The city, asit stood, was one of the greatest prizes ever taken in Orientalwarfare. The Turks had unquestioned title to its foods, itscommodities of all sorts, its houses. It was a store house of suppliesmost urgently needed for their peoples and armies. Why destroy it?

It was a matter of common knowledge, on the other hand, that theArmenians and Greeks were determined not to let this booty fall intothe hands of their hated enemies. There was a generally acceptedreport in Smyrna, several days before the fire, that an organizedgroup of Armenian young men had sworn to burn the city if it fell tothe Turks. They certainly had motive enough, and if this was theirplan, ruthlessly carried out, they paid a terrible price. No Armenianman, woman or child who was in the Armenian quarter after the firestarted escaped alive. They were either burned or shot down by Turkishsoldiers. The Turks committed atrocities enough without crediting themwith others, to which they haven't a clear title.

Evidence gathered by Paul Groenovish, chief of the Smyrna firedepartment, and carefully checked by myself, together with informationwhich came to me from other sources, points to the Armenians as theauthors of the fire. The series of events which led up to the finalterror on the Smyrna waterfront as I was enabled to follow them, beganin the first days of September, when Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol,United States High Commissioner at Constantinople, organized theSmyrna Emergency Relief Committee in anticipation of what might happenin the city if it fell, as then seemed inevitable, to the Turks.

An American Relief Unit in Smyrna.

The U.S.S. Destroyer Lawrence, under command of Capt. Wollesoeproceeded to Smyrna, carrying this committee, of which I was a member.We arrived in the evening of Friday, the 8th of September, in time tosee the last of the Greek army leaving the city. Early in the morningof the 9th we went ashore, and immediately organized a reliefcommittee, which consisted of practically all of the Armenianresidents there, together with representatives of the Near East Reliefand the American Red Cross from Constantinople. Admiral Bristol hadsent his chief of staff, Capt. Hepburn, as his personal representativeto serve as chairman of this committee.
One of the most serious situations that confronted the committee wasthe possibility of fire. This situation developed into one of extremeanxiety when we learned that the entire city police department,together with nearly all of the Greeks who were members of the firedepartment had deserted their posts and fled the city in fear of theapproaching Turkish army.
I made it my business to make a general survey of the situation, and Ifound that the fire fighting forces consisted of approximately 60 menwith two small station houses. I found two reasonably good fireengines and about half a dozen hand machines that were used along withthe waterfront by dropping in in-take hose over the sea-wall into thewater. There were only a few buildings in the city over three storieshigh, the great majority being two. The water pressure was strongenough to force a stream of water over almost any building in the cityand there appeared to be plenty of hydrants.

The following Tuesday morning, Mr. Jaquith of the Near East Relief,Maj. David of the Red Cross, and I took a trip by automobile in theoutskirts of the city. The Turks, by this time, were in fulloccupation. We saw three widely separated fires totally consumeisolated buildings. One of these was a small shop, and in the burningdoorway were the bodies of two women. Obviously, looting, murder andarson had been committed here by Turkish soldiers.
Hospital Not Burned by the Turks

A report has been widely circulated in this country to the effect thatthe Armenian Hospital, where some 1,500 refugees had gathered, wasburned by Turkish soldiers who slaughtered many of the helplessoccupants. The truth of the matter is that on Tuesday, early in theafternoon, in response to an emergency appeal, I had gone to thehospital, accompanied by Dr. Post and two nurses, all of us members ofthe Near East Relief staff.

While I was there a squad of from 15 to 20 Turkish soldiers, undercommand of a captain came to take over the hospital for Turkishmilitary purposes. The refugees were searched as they came from thegrounds, and arms of various sorts sufficient to fill a truck weretaken from them. All of them, men, women and children, who had takenrefuge both in the hospital building and in the adjoining grounds,were dispersed by 6 o'clock that afternoon.

The captain in command of the squad had written instructions from theTurkish military commander to take possession of the hospital andprepare for immediate occupancy. He told us that they would beginmoving Turkish patients to the hospital that night. He also mentionedthat he had orders to shoot the refugees, without mercy, if theyrefused to disarm, and that he certainly would have done so but fortheir unexpected docility in giving up their weapons. He creditedtheir willingness to disarm to the presence of the Americans. Dr.Post, the two nurses and myself. I had previously gone among them andexplained with the aid of an interpreter, that they would be shot ifthey persisted in holding on to the bombs, knives and revolvers theyhad concealed about them. The first command of the Turkish captainthat they surrender their arms had not produced results, for they werecrazy with fear, and it was some time before I could persuade them totrust their conquerors.

Signs of Incendarism.
On the following morning, Wednesday, the thirteenth of September, thesituation was critical in the extreme. Paul Grescovish, Chief of theSmyrna Fire Department, told me that he had discovered bundles ofdiscarded clothing, rags and bedding, covered with petroleum, inseveral of the institution recently deserted by Armenian refugees.

Grescovish impressed me as a thoroughly reliable witness. I had metand had a long talk with him three days previously, on Sunday morning.Fortunately, I needed no interpreter, as he speaks English fluently.He is an engineer, born and educated in Austria, and has beenidentified with several enterprises in Turkey. Twelve years ago hebecame chief of the Smyrna fire department, which he continued toconduct in a very efficient manner, for that part of the world, duringthe Greek occupancy. He told me that during the first week ofSeptember there had been an average of five fires per day with whichhis crippled department had to cope. In his opinion most of thesefires were caused by carelessness, but some undoubtedly were ofincendiary origin. The average number of fires in a normal year, hesaid, would be about one in ten days, and the increase to five a dayseemed significant.

As soon as the Turkish military authorities assumed control,Grescovish had applied for additional men and fire fighting equipment.Instead of helping him, the Turkish military governor, learned thatthere was still twelve Greeks in the fire department, ordered theirimmediate arrest, which left the department with only thirty-sevenmen. Sunday night, Monday and Monday night and Tuesday, so many fireswere reported at such widely points, that the fire department wasabsolutely unable to deal with them. They were extinguished by Turkishsoldiers.

I discussed with Grescovish the danger of fire at the plant of theStandard Oil Company. Although these tanks were located at least acouple of miles from the city, it was obvious that fire and explosionsthere would do terrific damage, and in spite of the depleted personnelof the department and the isolation of the plant which was beyondmunicipal jurisdiction, he set and maintained two men to act as guardsthere.
During Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Turkish soldiers shotdown many Armenians who they claimed were caught throwing petroleumand starting fires in the Armenian quarters and also around thewarehouses and stations of the Cassabe Railroad. It was on Wednesdaymorning that Grescovish himself found evidence of inciendarism. Hetold me that early that morning he had seen two Armenian priestsescorting several thousand men, women and children from the Armenianschools and Dominican Churches where they had taken refuge down to thequays. When he presently went in to these institutions he foundpetroleum-soaked refuse ready for the torch.

The chief told me, and there is no doubt that he was sure of it, thathis own fireman, as well as Turkish guards, had shot down manyArmenian young men disguised either as women or as Turkish irregularsoldiers, who were caught setting fires during Tuesday night andWednesday morning. Turkish soldiers, armed with rifles and machineguns, were guarding every street in the Armenian quarter, and everyman, woman and child who was in this section of the city as late asmid-afternoon on Wednesday, was either burned alive or shot down whileattempting to escape.

At 11:20 Wednesday morning, at least half a dozen fires were reportedalmost simultaneously around the freight terminal ware houses and thepassenger station of the Aldine Railroad.
It is noteworthy that these fires broke out in buildings which weregreatly to the advantage of the Turks to preserve and equally to theadvantage of the enemies to destroy.

At 12:00 o'clock five fires were reported around the Armenianhospital, then occupied by the Turks. At about the same time, twofires were reported at the Armenian club, and a few minutes laterseveral fires started simultaneously around the Cassabe Railroad.
Shortly after noon Grescovish, convinced that the city was doomed,again went to the military authorities to ask for help and again itwas not forthcoming. It was not until six o'clock in the evening thathe was given a company of 100 soldiers to serve under his directionand it was eight o'clock at night before the soldiers begandestruction of buildings by bombs, in order to check the spread of thefire.

A Southeast Café Fans the Flames.
Early in the afternoon, I was at the headquarter of Kaizim Pasha,Turkish Military Governor of the district, and from his window I couldsee smoke from several fires in various parts of the city. I calledhis attention to this, but he assured me they were of no consequence.He said he had been worried about the possibility of conflagration,and that his soldiers had received instruction to prevent it. When Ileft him I made an appointment to return at five o'clock thatafternoon but the fire had spread so rapidly, the people had beendriven from their homes down to the quay in such numbers and the panicwas so great, that I found it impossible to reach his headquarters tokeep the appointment.

During the afternoon the wind began to rise and blow from thesouthwest, which I was told was most unusual at that season of theyear, and by night a perfect gale was blowing. People who lived inSmyrna many years all told me they had never known a wind of suchviolence, during the summer months. Dense smoke and sparks blownacross the decks of the U.S. Destroyer Litchfield, which aftermid-night was anchored 760 yards off shore.

It was not until three days later that I saw Grescovish again. He toldme he had had no sleep for five days and nights and he looked thepart. Not only was he physically exhausted, but his emotions had beenso wrought upon by the sights he had seen, that he begged to beexcused from talking over details. Realizing, however, that this wasthe time to get the truth, I pressed him for information, and he wentover in chronological order the history of the fire. On that, and onseveral succeeding days, we explored the greater part of the burnedarea of the city, and I made notes of the most of the most importantthings he told me. Later when Lloyd's men came to ascertain the extentof the damage, he refused to make any statement at all.

During several weeks after the fire I had an opportunity to talk withmany Turkish commanders, and they were all of the mind in levelingeither bitter or philosophical accusations at their enemies fordestroying the city. They were contemptuous of the suggestion, made ina few quarters, that they had any responsibility for the burning.

"Why should we burn the city?" they would ask. "Smyrna, with all itswealth and treasure, was ours. The fleeing Greek army had abandonedhuge quantities of military stores and food supplies that weredesperately needed by our armies and civilians. These have beendestroyed, together with the ware houses and stations where many ofthe fires broke out. Besides, the fleeing Greeks and Armenians, manyof them wealthy as you know, had abandoned everything in their homesand their stores. We were in absolute and undisputed possession. Doyou think we are such fools as to have destroyed everything?"

My attention has been called to many statements published broadcast inthis country to the fact that Turks were seen pouring petroleum aroundthe American Consulate. I was in the vicinity of the Consulate most ofthe time and I saw no petroleum.

It is a fact worthy of the attention of the honest historian that veryfew people in Smyrna at the time of the fire, or during the succeedingweeks believed that the Turks were responsible for it. That the Turks were grossly and criminally negligent in the matter of ordinary precautions against an outbreak of fire, we all realized, and that they were tragically inefficient in fighting the fire was obvious to us all,
but I have been unable to find evidence that either Turkishs oldiers or Turkish civilians deliberately fired the city or wishedfor its destruction. The evidence all points in another direction.

http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/07/2543-armenians-not-turks-set-smyrna.html

'The Pacific' adlı dizide İzmir Yangınını Türkler çıkardı iftirasına tepki

ABD’deki HBO kanalında yayınlanan ve 18 Nisan’da Türkiye’de CNBC-E kanalında da gösterime girecek, senaristi Yunan asıllı George Pelecanos olan “The Pacific” adlı dizinin üçüncü bölümünde 1922’de Türklerin İzmir’i yağmaladığı, yakıp yıktığı iftirası atılmaktadır. Uluslararası İzmir Araştırmaları Merkezi’ne göre “İzmir Yangını” yeni bir soykırım maddesi olarak uluslararası alana çıkartılmaya hazırlanılmaktadır.

Bu konudaki ilk girişimler 1992’de ABD’de Ermeni ve Yahudi lobilerinin birlikte çalışmasıyla başlatılmıştır. 1992 yılında Washington’daki Ayasofia Katedrali’nde Ermeni-Rum Ortodoks Kiliseler Birliği tarafından düzenlenen ayinde, İzmir’in Türkler tarafından ele geçiriliş tarihi olan 9 Eylül’ün “İzmir Soykırımı” olarak ilan edilmesi kararı alınmıştır. Bu tarihten 15 gün sonra ABD Temsilciler Meclisi’nde Rum lobisi yanlısı 3 üye, 9 Eylül 1922’de İzmir’i ele geçiren Türklerin Mustafa Kemal önderliğinde şehri yakarak, Hıristiyanlığı yok etmelerinin 75. yıldönümü nedeniyle bir suçlayıcı karar tasarısını imzaya açmışlardır. O tarihte bu tasarı kabul görmemiştir. Ancak geçtiğimiz Mart ayında ABD Temsilciler Meclisi Dışişleri Komitesinde Ermeni soykırımıyla ilgili kabul edilen tasarının tarihinin 1915–1923 arasına revize edilmesinin ardındaki gerçek Ermeni soykırım iddialarının İzmir’i, Cumhuriyet Dönemini ve Atatürk’ü de kapsamasının amaçlanmasıdır. Hâlbuki 13 Eylül 1922’de İzmir’in Basmane Semtinde tam 25 ayrı kundaklanmış binada çıkan müthiş yangının o sırada İzmir itfaiye müdürü olan Paul Greskoviç’in raporunda da belirttiği gibi Ermeni çeteleri tarafından çıkartıldığı tarihi ve belgelenmiş bir gerçektir. Bu rapor ABD Kongre Kütüphanesi Amiral Bristol Koleksiyonu evrakları arasındadır ve uluslararası kamuoyuna açıklanmıştır. Ayrıca yine Amiral Bristol koleksiyonunda ABD’nin Ortadoğu Yardım Komisyonu Başkanı Mark O. Prestiss raporu ve yine körfezde bulunan Fransız gemisinde görevli Fransız Amirali Dumesnil’in 28 Eylül 1922 tarihli raporu da şehri Ermeni kundakçılarının yaktığını açıklamaktadır. İzmir Kent Arşivi Müzesi’nde bulunan ve yayınlanmış olan yabancı askeri raporlar, yabancı konsolosluk raporları, yabancı basının savaş muhabirlerinin gözlem ve yazıları, İzmir’de çıkartılan yabancı gazetelerin raporları hepsi yangını Ermeni çetelerinin çıkardığını yazar. Bunlarla ilgili tüm bilgi ve belgelere İzmir Kent Arşivi Müzesi Müdürü Doç. Dr. Oktay Gökdemir’den ulaşılabilir. Ayrıca Uluslararası İzmir Araştırmaları Merkezi Genel Yönetmeni Araştırmacı-Gazeteci-yazar Sayın Yaşar Aksoy da çok önemli bir bilgi ve belge kaynağıdır. Türk Tarih Kurumunun Ermeni Araştırmaları Masası Başkanı Prof. Dr. Kemal Çiçek tarafından derlenen ve yakında kitaplaştırılacak olan belgeler de İzmir yangınından sonra tutuklanan 22 Ermeni çetecisinin yangını kendilerinin çıkarttığına dair itiraflarını içeren soruşturma ve kovuşturma evrakları da gerçekleri ortaya koyan tarihi ve önemli belgelerdir. Bilimsel geçerliliği kabul edilmiş tüm bu belgelerden de anlaşılacağı üzere İzmir yangınını İzmirlilerin, Türklerin, Türk askerinin çıkardığına dair söylemler kentimize, milletimize karşı yapılmış büyük bir iftiradır. İzmir soykırımı iftirası senaryosunun bir parçası olan ABD’deki The Pacific dizisini yayınlayan HBO Kanalı’nın protesto edilmesini siz saygıdeğer yurttaşlarımızdan rica ediyorum. için başlattığımız kampanyaya katkı koymanızı rica eder, saygılarımı sunarım.

Opr. Dr. Canan ARITMAN
İzmir Milletvekili

HBO'ya Tepkinizi Gösterin
Türkleri İzmir'i yakmakla suçlayan ve 1922'de Yunan ailelerin canlarını zor kurtardığını iddia eden HBO'yu protesto etmek için "http://www.hbo.com/the-pacific/index.html#/about/contact.html" adresi üzerinden kanala e-posta gönderebilirsiniz.

The Peak Public Affairs Committee of the Armenian-Australian Community
SYDNEY: Australia’s Federal Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Honourable Mr. Joe Hockey reaffirmed his commitment to advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Federal Government of Australia, during a meeting with the Armenian National Committee of Australia last week.

Mr. Hockey declared: “My support for Armenian Genocide recognition is unwavering.” ANC Australia President, Mr. Varant Meguerditchian welcomed the Minister’s reaffirmation and leadership on this important issue, stating: “Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide is a fundamental step toward ensuring that similar crimes are not repeated.”

As the Federal Member for North Sydney, Mr. Hockey has been a longstanding supporter of the Armenian community and Armenian Genocide recognition. His recent comments follow a 2005 visit to the Republic of Armenia where he laid a wreath at the ‘Tzitzernagapert’ Genocide Memorial Monument in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Considered to be the first genocide of the twentieth century by historians and academics, the systematic slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 by the Ottoman Government has been recognised by prominent legislative bodies; among these are the governments of Germany, Canada, France, Russia, Argentina, the Netherlands and Belgium. In 1997, the Parliament of NSW became the first legislative body in Australia to recognise and condemn the genocide of the Armenians.

http://anc.org.au/news/Minister%20Joe%20Hockey%20Reaffirms%20Support%20of%20Genocide%20Recognition

Turkey honors lost soldiers on 95th anniversary of Battle of Gallipoli

Thursday, March 18, 2010
ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires


Turkish and foreign officials marked the 95th anniversary of the victory at Çanakkale during World War I around the country Thursday.

From April 25, 1915, to Jan. 9, 1916, a joint British and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides.

The events, which are considered the Ottoman Empire’s biggest achievement during World War I, are known in the West as the “Gallipoli Campaign” or the “Battle of Gallipoli.”
The ceremony in Çanakkale, in northwestern Turkey, commemorated the soldiers killed during battle, who are buried in war graves in Gallipoli. It included a moment of silence and the singing of the national anthem.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the ceremonies with Cabinet ministers. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ also traveled to Çanakkale although it was not part of his official program. He was accompanied by commanders of the Turkish Army, Navy and Air Forces.

95 yilda dunya mahkemeleri bizi mahkum edemedi,simdi de safligimizdan yararlanipkendimizi mahkum etmemizi saglamaya calismiyorlar mi?
Bir cok yandas medya ve sozde Turk aydinin surekli yaptigi bir kandirmaca bu yazida da yok mu?
3T den( Tani-Tazminat-Toprak) vazgecegini sananlar ancak ya cok saftir ya dakuvvetli isbilikcilerdir diye dusunuyorum.
Asagidaki adrese goruslerinizi yazabilirsiniz...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7050541.ece
From The Times March 5, 2010 Pragmatism, politics and the festering wound of Armenian 'genocide'Tony Halpin: analysis

The political battle in the United States over recognition of the Armenian genocide boils down to a simple calculation: is the cost in spoilt relations with Turkey outweighed by respect for the memory of 1.5 million victims?

President Obama promised during his election campaign to recognise the massacres of 1915-23 as genocide at the annual commemoration on April 24, saying: “I believe that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence . . . As President, I will recognise the Armenian Genocide.”

He ducked out last year, arguing that he was supporting the historic “football diplomacy” that led Armenia and Turkey to sign protocols establishing diplomatic relations. Those protocols, which include a planned commission on historical issues, are now bogged down by objections in Turkey, adding to fears in Ankara that Mr Obama will keep his pledge this time. US presidents routinely mark April 24 with statements acknowledging the massacres while bowing to Turkish demands not to label them “genocide”.

George W. Bush called them “historic mass killings”, President Clinton settled on “deportations and massacres”, while Mr Obama used the Armenian term “Meds Yeghern” or “Great Catastrophe”.
Ankara has warned that US recognition would seriously damage relations. It argues that the slaughter that took place as the Ottoman Empire crumbled during the First World War was not genocide but part of a civil conflict that killed between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and a similar number of Turks. As Nato’s only Muslim member, with an important US air base at Incirlik and involvement in key American defence projects such as the troubled F35 fighter jet, Turkey has numerous cards to play.

But while it continually threatens Nato allies with repercussions, relations with Russia, which has always recognised the Armenian genocide, have never been warmer. Pragmatism in cosying up to its principal gas supplier apparently trumps the tub-thumping employed in the US.

The British Government has been similarly spineless on the Armenian question, despite ample contemporary evidence, as a recent study, by Geoffrey Robertson, of Foreign and Commonwealth Office evasiveness showed. It refuses even to allow the Armenian genocide to be mentioned on National Holocaust Memorial Day for fear of upsetting Turkey.

The irony is that modern Turkey is not being blamed for the past. Armenia has recognised its current borders and has repeatedly stated that it has no claims on land in eastern Turkey that once formed western Armenia.

Reparations will be an issue for the reconciliation process. But for the dwindling number of survivors and millions of descendants in Armenia’s global diaspora, Turkish recognition of their suffering and an apology would be the most valuable reparation of all.

US votes on Armenian genocide !

RECENT ARTICLES AFTER THE 23-22 VOTE


Disrespectful Propaganda By ANCA
Saturday, 06 March 2010 15:14

Getting more unabashed with the adoption of so called Armenian genocide resolution in the Foreign Affairs Committee of U.S. House of Representatives, Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has published a picture, in which Turkish flag is wrapped on the mouth of the statue of liberty.
Publishing an announcement titled "End Turkey's Gag Rule", one of the major lobbying organizations of Armenian diaspora, ANCA wrote that a foreign country has placed gag-rule on the nation's recognition of so called Armenian genocide. The announcement reads, "Using threats and intimidation to block legislation that simply calls upon us all to apply the lessons of this atrocity to help prevent future crimes against humanity."

Going further with baseless claims, ANCA claimed that Turkey outlaws discussion of Armenian allegations, forgetting that Turkey calls Armenia to open archives and establish a joint committee of historians to make researches on 1915 incidents but this initiative cannot be realized because Armenia drags feet. As it claims that Turkey wants to export its "restrictions" to the United States, ANCA should be reminded that a group of intellectuals in Turkey went further than discussing the issue and apologized to Armenians in their behalf. On the other hand, we are sure that Armenian diaspora in United States would love to see a resolution (like the one that France adopted due to the Armenian diaspora's gag-rule in the country) that penalizes denial of Armenian allegations related to 1915 incidents, if they could.

Stating that Turkey puts pressure on the U.S. lawmakers and restricts the free speech of US, ANCA published a picture that Turkish flag is wrapped on the mouth of the statue of liberty. Turkishny.com calls ANCA to be respectful to the Turkish flag and to immediately remove the picture in which our national symbol is used as a propaganda material.


…………….


WALL STREET JOURNAL

REVIEW & OUTLOOK
MARCH 5, 2010
But Who Needs Allies?
"Congress poisons U.S.-Turkey relations."

The diplomats at the House Foreign Affairs Committee yesterday
adopted a view on the urgent matter of world events that
transpired 95 years ago. By a 23-22 margin, the committee
declared that the mass deportations and serial massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I ought to be
called a genocide. The vote has sparked a full-blown diplomatic
spat with Turkey—with Ankara recalling its ambassador to
Washington—but that's really no big deal, says Foreign Affairs
Chairman Howard Berman (D., Calif.).

So much for the new era of U.S. appreciation for the
sensitivities and cultural nuances of America's allies. Instead,
Mr. Berman -- who is often sensible -- airily suggested that the Turks
should not allow their relations with the U.S. "to get
sidetracked by a nonbinding resolution passed by the House of
Representatives." At least the Bush Administration was prepared
to antagonize allies only on issues that really mattered.

It was left to the losing side in the House vote to point out,
as Indiana Republican Mike Pence did, that now is probably not
the best time to antagonize Ankara. Turkey is one of the few
NATO allies that has substantially increased its troop presence
in Afghanistan, and has responsibility for security in Kabul.
Turkey also has an important influence over events in Iraq,
which this weekend holds national elections that will affect the
pace and ease of American withdrawal.

The House vote's most baleful effects may be on Turkey's
relations with Armenia itself. In October, the two countries
signed a historic agreement to normalize relations and open
their common border. The treaty, now before the parliaments of
both countries, contains provisions to establish "an impartial
scientific examination of the historical records and archives."
How is it that what's good enough for the Armenian government
fails to pass muster with the U.S. Congress?

If the Members were really concerned about Turkey's human-rights
record, they might concern themselves instead with what the
Turkish government is doing in the present, which Turkish
analyst Soner Cagaptay describes in a nearby op-ed. As for
judgments upon the distant past, we'll look for truth in the
findings of historians and not grandstanding Congressional
resolutions.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A20

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EURASIA INSIGHT TURKEY: ANKARA MULLS RESPONSE AFTER US CONGRESSIONAL VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Yigal Schleifer 3/05/10

Turkey watchers in Washington must have been feeling a sense of déjà vu after the March 4 passage by a congressional committee of a resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians during World War I as genocide.

The same House Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a similar resolution in 2007, leading Turkey to recall its ambassador to Washington and warn of a serious rupture in relations with the United States. A last-minute intervention by the Bush administration kept the resolution from coming up for a vote in the full House of Representatives. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Post-vote developments this time around are playing out in much the same way as in 2007. Ankara has again recalled its ambassador and has said its ties with Washington could be severely damaged, if the resolution continues on its way to a full vote.
[For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"[For] a whole year Washington and Ankara are getting along very well, but come March storm clouds start forming," political analyst Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in his March 5 column in the English-language Hurriyet Daily News. "We are watching the same movie over and over again. The only difference is that with each passing year the intensity increases."

This year, the saga supposedly had a different plotline. The historic reconciliation framework that Turkey and Armenia signed last October was widely thought to take the legs out from under any effort to tar Turkey with the genocide label. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

But analysts say a stalled reconciliation process, along with Turkey’s deep emotional reaction to the genocide issue, have, once again, created a potentially damaging situation for Turkish-US relations. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"We would not have been here, if the protocols had gone forward," says Hugh Pope, Turkey analyst with the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based policy and advocacy group. "Turkey’s insisting on the conditionality, which was not part of the protocols, has led us to where we are today." Pope was referring to a government demand that Turkish ratification of the reconciliation accords was contingent on movement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenian forces.

The signing of the accords was initially hailed in Turkey as an important breakthrough. But Ankara seemed to put the brakes on the process after the protocols whipped up strong domestic opposition, as well as criticism from Azerbaijan, a traditional Turkish ally that is also a key component in Ankara’s energy policy. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"Obviously there was an attempt by the Turkish authorities to try something else [other] than what they were doing for the last 95 years, and it failed," says Cengiz Aktar, director of the European Studies Department at Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University.

Now faced with another genocide resolution in Washington, Turkey appears to have returned to the same strategy that it relied on in previous years, one informed by a mix of deep emotional responses and political concerns. "It’s emotional because Turks are very much enraged to be portrayed as grandsons of people who committed genocide, especially when it happened during a time when tumultuous things were happing all over," says Sinan Ulgen, Chairman of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM), an Istanbul think tank.

"The second aspect [of the Turkish reaction] is the political and legal question; namely if such a bill is adopted in congress, that might lead to a situation where Turkey might find itself as a defendant in a number of legal cases in the United States, which is something Turkey doesn’t want to find itself in," Ulgen added.

One of the important questions now is how far is Ankara willing to take things if the resolution goes to the House for a full vote -- something that Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to decide on.
Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, called Turkey a "paper tiger" and noted that, although France passed a resolution recognizing the genocide in 2001, trade between those two countries has since flourished.

Bahcesehir’s Aktar says he also believes Turkey’s threats are a "bluff." But Ulgen predicted that "all bets are off" if Congress actually adopts the resolution, noting that the genocide issue is "an area where identity and emotion are in a sense superseding pure interests."
"Turkey will certainly feel impelled to take retaliatory action against the United States," Ulgen said. He went on to suggest that retaliation could "take the form of non-cooperation in terms of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and possibly leading to restrictions on the use of strategic assets, like the Incirlik air base - areas where there is important cooperation."

Another important question is just what happens to the stalled Turkey-Armenia reconciliation process?

"We are determined to press ahead with normalization of relations with Armenia," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on March 5 during a news conference in Ankara.
But analysts believe the fragile protocols may become a victim of political maneuvering in Washington over the genocide issue. "[Passing the resolution is] a bad idea. Even if it’s done with best intentions by the congressmen, what it will do is hand the process back to the nationalists on both the Turkish and Armenian sides," says the ICG’s Pope.

Added Aktar: "Yesterday’s vote is the last nail in the coffin of these protocols, at least for the time being. I can’t imagine a Turkish government ratifying the protocols right now, even if the Armenian government unilaterally ratifies them."

Posted March 5, 2010 © Eurasianet
http://www.eurasianet.org

………………..


US vote on Armenian genocide angers Turkey
VALENTINA POP
05.03.2010 @ 10:45 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Ankara on Thursday (4 march) recalled its ambassador from Washington in protest over a resolution passed by US lawmakers recognising the Armenian genocide in 1915.

The foreign affairs committee in the US Congress narrowly passed a non-binding resolution condemning as "genocide" the First World War killings of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman empire.

Turkey strongly rejects the term genocide to describe the mass killings of Armenians back in 1915



Ankara reacted immediately by withdrawing its ambassador from Washington. Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died when Christian Armenians took up arms against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

"We condemn this draft resolution, accusing the Turkish nation with a crime that it has not committed," a statement from the Turkish government read.

The government also warned that the move may jeopardise a timid revival of Turkish-Armenian relations, which was strongly supported and mediated by the US and praised by the EU in its last monitoring report.

The agreement signed last year is still pending the approval of the parliaments in Ankara and Erevan.

"Turkey plays a key role in regional security and the promotion of dialogue between civilisations. Significant diplomatic efforts to normalise relations with Armenia were made, resulting in the signature of protocols for the normalisation of relations in October 2009. It is important that these protocols are swiftly ratified by both countries," the commission report reads.

The rapprochement was one of the few positive developments noted by Brussels in the last year. Turkey is moving toward EU requirements for membership slowly, after having started negotiations in 2005. Relations with its neighbours are "key" to its progress said the EU commission.

EU mediation efforts have also been deployed in a frozen conflict involving ethnic Armenians in Turkey's neighbouring country and strong ally, Azerbaijan. The enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is still controlled by Armenia, after a brief war in the early 1990s, which was backed by Russia. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are part of the EU's so-called Eastern Partnership aimed at boosting ties with post-Soviet countries.

U-turn on Armenian genocide

The US resolution, which was approved with 23 to 22 votes, calls on President Barack Obama to recognise the "genocide" in his presidential statement marking the Armenian remembrance day on 24 April.

The Obama administration had warned the congress against adopting such a resolution, which may upset its relations with Turkey, a key Nato ally of strategic importance for the US in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Such approach marks something of a u-turn from Mr Obama's pledges during the campaign trail leading to his election in 2008, when he repeatedly said that "America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian genocide."

Last year, during a common press conference with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, Mr Obama carefully avoided the term "genocide" and only referred to a "difficult and tragic history," saying that it was up to historians to decide the terminology.

French parallel

A similar resolution was passed by EU member France, which is very sceptical of Turkey's membership bid to the bloc, as well as Canada.

Meanwhile, a French insurance company, Axa, is said to have paid compensation to thousands descendants of Armenians massacred in World War I based on life insurance policies taken at the time.
Hilda Tchoboian, the head of an Armenian association in the French city of Lyon, told AFP that Axa had agreed to pay nearly 1,000 Armenian, French and American families, and had started sending cheques of about €8,000 each.

Axa is the second insurance company to pay compensation to descendants of massacred Armenians. US company New York Life agreed in 2005 to pay €8.8 million euros to victims' heirs.


………………….


Leylekian: Armenian Genocide Denial: The Turkish Vietnam
By Laurent Leylekian


Once again, Turkish diplomacy is facing a dead-end. Once again, they thought they could succeed by throwing the Armenian Genocide into oblivion with the notorious protocols process. But their own inconsistency and lack of sincerity prevented them from blocking—through the final ratification of these protocols—the course of genocide recognition and the issue of what Turkish-occupied Western Armenian territories.

Thus, once again, platoons of Turkish diplomats will have to go to Washington, D.C., Stockholm, Switzerland, or elsewhere to try to prevent new resolutions, new momentum, new TV broadcasts, or any kind of new genocide-related initiative somewhere in the world.
Turkey is sending its massive PR artillery with the same lack of discernment with which the U.S. used its B52s in Vietnam. Through huge napalm-like injections of money, through nauseous orange agent-like corporate lobbying, through special operations and despicable briberies, they have generally succeeded in temporarily putting out the fire. But as soon as a blaze is supposed to be cooled down, another one appears somewhere else.

Italic text is (of course) the lyrics of “The End”
–
The Doors.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again

And the brave Turkish diplomats are more and more in despair on the diplomatic front. Year after year, young inexperienced envoys are sent by Turkey to the front—a front of disenchantment Turkey has created for itself—to fight for a cause they don’t share nor care about. They sometimes win certain rearguard battles with the help of their superior diplomatic and political equipment. But it is becoming harder and harder for them to win the hearts and minds of the people they intend to free from “genocide allegations.”

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need…of some…stranger’s hand
In a…desperate land
Lost in a Roman…wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah
And increasingly, they can see the contempt in their interlocutors’ eyes. And more and more often, Papa Erdogan has to be sent here or there, as a Bell “Huey” helicopter, to save doomed squadrons of private Mehmets from ambush. And actually, Huey Erdogan often succeeds but it doesn’t change the fact that those Turkish commandos who are supposed to bear the denial gospel are less convinced than the ones they are supposed to convince.


And they bitterly realize that without any money, without uniform, without counting on blackmail, but with sincere commitment and with the incomparable weight of Truth and Morality—like a rice bowl they are fed daily—the Hay-Minh from Armenia and the Hay-Congs from the Armenian Diaspora are far more credible. That their special operations trying to split the Western Hay-Congs from the Eastern Hay-Minh is totally failing.
There’s danger on the edge of town
Ride the King’s highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby
Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake…he’s old, and his skin is cold

And some young Turkish citizens who were supposed to be “good patriots” are now wondering why they have to support hatred ideologies. Why they have to affirm with such suspicious insistence that they are “truly Turks” and hate Armenians. Why they have to use the word “Agri” instead of “Ararat.”

Why some of their old grand-aunts sometimes seem so sad and prudishly look away when Armenians are mentioned.

And why they start feeling some sympathy for Hrant Dink, for Armenians, for Assyrians, for Alevis.
The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and we’ll do the rest
The blue bus is callin’ us
The blue bus is callin’ us
Driver, where you taken’ us

And polls are now showing that more and more Turkish citizens are fed up with this insane denial policy and would like their country to be normal, to be democratic, to be open, to be hate-less, to be Susurluk and Kizil Elma and Ergenekon and Bozkurt-less, while their political leaders keep on burning millions of dollars. But now, even some of these leaders are wretchedly looking for unlikely B-plans. Today, after so many years of useless denial, they can’t confess that their state ideology is based on heinous lies.

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and…then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door…and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother…I want to…f*** you
C’mon baby, take a chance with us
C’mon baby, take a chance with us
C’mon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin’ a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin’ a blue rock
C’mon, yeah
And the mask of respectability is now falling apart. Turkey’s leaders still try to appear as honest brokers in the Caucasus, in the Middle East, with Iran. But with their own rogue reputation, with their country’s poor record, and with their inability to put an end to the cycle of violence and impunity, they are simply failing. They cannot even appear as honest brokers for their own Turkish society, a society that is increasingly shaken by riots, violence, and rumors of plots, of conspiracies, of “balyoz” plans.
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
And the time is probably not so far away when, after countless Hué, Khe Sanh, and Tet offensives, ultimately Turkish “Hueys” will have to evacuate their left-behind credibility from the rooftops of ideological embassies—surrounded by Hay-Congs, Hay-Minhs, and allied genocide recognitions, motions, calls, demonstrations, and sittings—to carriers overcrowded with genocide deniers, retired ambassadors, crooks and crooked lobbyists, losers, and wheeler-dealers.
It hurts to set you free
But you’ll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end

And the time is probably not so far either, when Turkey will collapse as did other people’s prison houses, under the unbearable weight of its own contradictions between what it ought to be and what it is, under the intolerable curse of hate against anyone and everyone, against others and itself, under the insupportable actuality of a genocide and of its denial. And this will be the end.
Laurent Leylekian is the editor of the biweekly France-Arménie(www.france-armenie.net). From 2001 to December 2009, he was the executivedirector of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy(www.eafjd.eu). He is married, with two children. The author thanks Jirair Momjian for copyediting the article.


MAXIME’S COMMENT:

Laurent Leylekian is a mad, sick, ill person; I believe that he is worse than Harout Sassounian himself. I will sue him for defamation and interference in a court case, because he wrote in January of this year that my complaint is “the spearhead of denialist offensive in France”. If can find one Turkish association with one brain in France, he will be sued also for racist defamation and provocation to racial hate. He wrote an article so vitriolic about Turks, in October 2009, that by comparison, Jean-Marie Le Pen seems to be the president of Amnesty International for France. He asserted that the whole Turkish nation of today is “as guilty as Cain” (sic).

…………….



JEWISH-ARMENIAN COALITION LAUNCHES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION EFFORT

By Laura Boghosian and Howard Jaffe, Guest Commentary
Watertown TAB & Press

March 4 2010
MA
WATERTOWN — In 2007, Massachusetts residents learned that the
Anti-Defamation League was denying the Armenian Genocide and lobbying
for the Turkish government to prevent Congressional recognition of
this crime against humanity. Fourteen communities, led by Watertown,
as well as the Massachusetts Municipal Association, subsequently
withdrew from the ADL’s No Place for Hate program in protest.

Many in the Jewish community were shocked that the ADL and other
national Jewish organizations would actively work to deny another
people’s genocide. Members of Lexington’s Temple Isaiah and Boston’s
Temple Israel decided to act, and with Boston-area Armenians, formed
the Coalition to Recognize the Armenian Genocide.