  |
|
|
home news banks cultural criminal dipcourier products subscribe |
WOMEN-SUPPORTERS OF OPPOSITION HOLD RALLY IN YEREVAN YEREVAN, MARCH 8. ARMINFO. Women-supporters of Armenia's political opposition are holding a rally in Yerevan under the slogan "Women against lawlessness". The rally has been organized by the opposition bloc "Justice". Speaking at the rally, Press Secretary of the People's Party of Armenia Ruzanna Khachatrian reported that not only "opposition-supporting" women, but also "those caring about what is going on in the country", can take part in the rally. According to her, the authorities are no doing anything to relieve the tension caused by mass falsifications in the 2003 elections. The current socio-economic situation is a heavy burden on women's shoulders, so they have had their word today, Khachatrian said. Quite a large number of people, over 1,000, are taking part in the rally. Greta Sargssian, mother of Vazgen Sargssian, who fell victim to the terrorist act in Armenian Parliament, made a speech of welcome. She urged Armenia's women to continue their struggle against Robert Kocharian's dictatorship for establishing democracy in the country. After the rally, its participants intend to make a procession to the presidential residence. A considerable number of policemen can be seen in front of the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, where the rally is being held. TURKS BREAK WALL OF SILENCE ABOUT ARMENIANS' GENOCIDE MINNEAPOLIS, MARCH 8. ARMINFO. Taner Akcam doesn't seem like either a hero or a traitor, though he's been called both. A slight, soft-spoken man who chooses his words with care, Mr. Akcam, a Turkish sociologist and historian currently teaching at the University of Minnesota, writes about events that happened nearly a century ago in an empire that no longer exists: the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. But in a world where history and identity are closely intertwined, where the past infects today's politics, his work, along with that of like-minded Turkish scholars, is breaking new ground. Mr. Akcam, 50, is one of a handful of scholars who are challenging their homeland's insistent declarations that the organized slaughter of Armenians did not occur; and he is the first Turkish specialist to use the word "genocide" publicly in this context. Most scholars outside Turkey agree that the killings are among the first 20th-century instances of "genocide," defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention as acts "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." In the years since its founding in 1923 the Turkish Republic has drawn what the Turkish historian Halil Berktay calls a "curtain of silence" around this history at home and used its influence as a cold war ally to pressure foreign governments to suppress opposing views. Mr. Akcam is among the most outspoken of the Turkish scholars who have defied this silence. A student leader of the leftist opposition to Turkey's repressive government in the 1970's, There, influenced in part by Germany's continuing struggle to understand its history, he began to confront his own country's past. While researching the post-World War I trials of Turkish leaders, he began working with Vahakn Dadrian, a pre-eminent Armenian historian of the killings. Their unlikely friendship became the subject of a 1997 Dutch film, "The Wall of Silence." Turks fear to acknowledge the crimes of the past, Mr. Akcam says, because admitting that the founders of modern Turkey, revered today as heroes, were complicit in evil calls into question the country's very legitimacy. "If you start questioning, you have to question the foundations of the republic," he said. He and others like him insist that coming to terms with the past serves Turkey's best interests. Their view echoes the experience of countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa that have struggled with similar questions as they emerge from periods of repressive rule or violent conflict. Reflecting a widespread belief that nations can ensure a democratic future only through acknowledging past wrongs, these countries have opened archives, held trials and created truth commissions. Mr. Akcam is convinced the state's resistance to historical dialogue is "not the position of the majority of people in Turkey," he said. He cites a recent survey conducted by scholars that appeared in a Turkish newspaper showing that 61 percent of Turks believe it is time for public discussion of what the survey called the "accusations of genocide." TURKISH EMBASSY IN GREAT BRITAIN RESPONDS TO RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN GUINED COUNTY YEREVAN, MARCH 8. ARMINFO. The Turkish Embassy in Great Britain issued a statement on the occasion of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Council of the county of Guined, Wales, Great Britain. Turkish mass media reports that Press Attache of the Turkish Embassy in London Hasby Akal made a statement on behalf of the Embassy. According to him, "despite the fact that some Armenians became an instrument of Tsarist Russia's expansionist policy from 1870, when they began committing guerrilla acts of terrorism, they remained honorary members of the Ottoman Empire." As a result of the Ottoman Empire's attempts to "remove" Armenians from the field of action, both Turks and Armenians sustained losses, Akal said. "However, it was not a policy of genocide," he stressed. Akal expressed his conviction that this subject must be studied by historians. "Turkey is not applying any embargo against neighboring Armenia. in conformity with international norms, the Turkish Government intends to develop good-neighborly relations with Armenia, expecting a constructive and conciliatory position on its part," Akal said. Recently, the council of the county of Guined approved a petition recognizing the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and demanding the lifting of the economic blockade from Armenia. HEADLINES OF FEBRUARY 8 MARCH
IRANIAN DELEGATION ARRIVES IN ARMENIA TODAY
|
