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California Courier Online, June 3, 2004

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  • California Courier Online, June 3, 2004

    California Courier Online, June 3, 2004

    1 - Commentary
    Turks Attempt to Use Armenians
    In Anti-Genocide Propaganda

    By Harut Sassounian
    California Courier Publisher
    ************************************************** ************************
    2 - San Diego Conference on Genocide and Denial
    Features Scholars, Activists and Educators
    3 - Glendale's Deukmejian Wilderness
    Park Re-opened at Ceremonies
    4 - Dr. Karamanoukian Donates
    $250,000 to Armenian Center
    5 - Armenian Education in North America
    To be Reviewed at June 4-5 Conference
    ************************************************** **********************
    1 - Commentary

    Turks Attempt to Use Armenians
    In Anti-Genocide Propaganda

    By Harut Sassounian
    Publisher, The California Courier

    After publishing viciously anti-Armenian articles for many years, some
    Turkish newspapers have changed their tactics. They have adopted a more
    subtle approach in attempting to scuttle the just demands of the Armenian
    people. Instead of denying the Genocide outright, the Turkish press now
    publishes articles that urge Armenians to "let bygones be bygones, and to
    look to the future, not the past!" In other words, the Turks are advocating
    reconciliation without truth or justice.
    To make matters worse, the Turkish media from time to time publishes
    interviews with some Armenians who reportedly make conciliatory statements
    which are presented as evidence that not all Armenians are "hung up" on the
    recognition of the Genocide.
    For example, in the May 25th issue of the Turkish Daily News, Burak Bekdil,
    after a recent visit to Armenia, published a lengthy commentary titled,
    "Why Turks and Armenians must eventually shake hands." Using deceptively
    accommodating language, Bekdil distorts the facts of the Armenian Genocide
    and tries to undermine the Armenian demands.
    He starts his article by calling the Genocide Memorial Monument in Yerevan
    "the only symbol in the world that deeply divides two nations that lived
    together in peace for centuries." By feigning to be indignant, Bekdil asks:
    "how many more centuries the Turks and Armenians will be living under the
    huge symbolic shadow of one monument?"
    In one of the most outrageous lies in his column and in a blatant attempt
    to pit Armenians and Kurds against each other, Bekdil shamelessly writes:
    "The Armenians claim that the Ottoman Kurds, under orders from the empire
    in 1915-18, systematically massacred 1.5 million of their ethnic kin living
    in eastern Anatolia." While it is a fact that some Kurds collaborated with
    the Turks and carried out deadly raids on Armenian caravans, no
    knowledgeable person would claim that the Kurds committed the Armenian
    Genocide, while the Turks acted as innocent bystanders. If that were the
    case, the Turkish government would have eagerly recognized "the genocide
    committed by the Kurds against the Armenians."
    After repeating the standard Turkish lies on the Armenian Genocide, and
    accusing Armenians of "systematically killing hundreds of thousands of
    Turks," while only "thousands of Armenians died from cold weather,
    starvation and disease," Bekdil sheds crocodile tears over the fact that
    "in 2004, there are two nations, once friends, accusing each other of a
    genocide that is said to have taken place 90 years ago and are locked over
    the dispute, perhaps forever."
    Bekdil seems quite ignorant about the most basic facts of not only the
    Armenian Genocide, but of Turkish history. Otherwise, he would not have
    asked the following very foolish question: "Has any Armenian ever been
    curious enough to know how many Turks actually lived in eastern Anatolia in
    1915-18 and, if by any chance there were a few, could those few physically
    have been capable of massacring 700,000-1.5 million others?"
    Bekdil espouses the baseless notion that the Diaspora is dictating to the
    Armenian government its hard-line position on the Armenian Genocide.
    Armenia "must maintain an extremely delicate balance between what reality
    dictates and what its Diaspora sponsors impose," Bekdil falsely asserts. He
    then makes several nonsense statements, such as: "The Armenian mindset is
    deeply fractured. Diaspora Armenians think the genocide issue is their
    'raison d'etre.' As for a possible deal with the Turks, they believe they
    should represent the entire Armenian population. Are they not, after all,
    the ones who financially keep the Armenian state alive?" Bekdil
    conveniently forgets that Pres. Kocharian, at his own initiative, has
    included the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the
    foreign policy agenda of the Republic of Armenia. The Turkish officials are
    the ones who reject Armenia's unconditional offer to establish diplomatic
    relations, and they keep the border closed in order to force Armenia's
    population into abandoning their historic claims.
    Bekdil then introduces Nishan Atinizian of Boston -- one of the major
    investors in the new Armenia Marriott Hotel -- as someone who "thinks it
    would be grossly stupid if Turks and Armenians lived in hostility forever."
    The Turkish commentator then claims that Atinizian thinks, "it is the
    historians' job to find out what really happened 90 years ago." It is
    highly doubtful that Atinizian would make such a statement. Armenians know
    first-hand what happened to them. They need no historians to tell them what
    happened in 1915! Such a statement would also run counter to the fact that
    Atinizian generously contributes large sums of money to a major
    Armenian-American activist organization that has, as one of its goals, the
    recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
    Bekdil claims that Atinizian is "fed up" with American politicians who
    benefit from "the genocide industry" by getting campaign contributions from
    Armenians, "promising to pay [us] back in genocide memorials." He is quoted
    as saying, "I don't care if the Americans or the French recognize the
    genocide. This is an issue between Armenians and Turks. What more should I
    ask from the Turks if they opened their archives so that Turkish Armenians
    could trace their family roots?"
    Nishan Atinizian told me this week that most of the statements attributed
    to him by Bekdil are false. Atinizian angrily said he would write to Bekdil
    demanding a retraction and an apology. He had a conversation with the
    Turkish commentator at the sidewalk cafe in front of Marriott hotel in
    Yerevan and discussed mostly the potential benefits of opening the
    Turkish-Armenian border.
    Bekdil then continues his column and introduces another Atinizian, David,
    of Yerevan - no relation to Nishan. The Turkish commentator presents the
    following outrageous views as being those of David's which are supposedly
    sensible like those of most "homeland Armenians": "a) injecting hatred into
    the minds of generations of Turks and Armenians reflects an archaic
    thinking that should have no place in the 21st century; b) the genocide was
    masterminded by the Ottomans and carried our by the Kurds; c) it happened
    because the Russians had engineered an Armenian uprising against the
    Ottoman Empire; d) some 350,000 Turks died as well, as a result of Armenian
    atrocities in 1915-18; e) the Turkey of today cannot be held responsible
    for the genocide; and f) it is totally pointless, against international law
    and unrealistic if some Armenians dream of any part of eastern Anatolia as
    part of Armenia." Bekdil commends Nishan and David Atinizian for being
    "realists." Nishan Atinizian, who was present during David's conversation
    with Bekdil, told me this week that David did not make any of these
    statements.
    We hope that Nishan and David Atinizian and all other Armenians learn a
    very valuable lesson - never agree to talk to a Turkish journalist, even
    off the record! Otherwise, when the article comes out, and distorted
    statements are published in your name, you have to do a lot of back
    peddling to prove that you did not make the statements attributed to you.
    The two Atinizians should take all necessary steps to set the record
    straight so that the Armenian community worldwide would not believe that
    they said the things the Turkish Daily News claims they did. The timing of
    this Turkish commentary is most unfortunate, as the Atinizians and their
    business partners are getting ready to celebrate the grand opening of the
    Armenia Marriott Hotel in Yerevan next week. The last thing they need is a
    controversial article in the Turkish press claiming that one of their
    partners has made such disparaging remarks about the recognition of the
    Armenian Genocide.

    ************************************************** ************************
    2 - San Diego Conference on Genocide and Denial
    Features Scholars, Activists and Educators
    SAN DIEGO, CA - Armenian-Americans from all over San Diego County gathered
    on the campus of the University of California, San Diego on May 8 for an
    academic conference entitled "The Western Response to Genocide and Genocide
    Denial." The event was organized by the Armenian National Committee of San
    Diego and the Armenian Student Association of UC San Diego.
    The two-part conference featured scholars and experts from various
    organizations covering issues from implementing genocide education in
    public school curricula to combating Genocide denial in the political and
    academic arenas. ANC San Diego activist Dr. Raffi Nazikian moderated the
    question and answer sessions at the end of each speaker's presentation.
    Following the last presentation, the guest speakers participated in a panel
    discussion where they answered questions raised by the diverse audience of
    Armenian and non-Armenian students, educators, community members and
    activists.
    The first session included Dr. Laurence Baron, Director of the Lipinsky
    Institute for Judaic Studies, who discussed the crime of genocide providing
    a sequential breakdown of historical landmark events, treaties and trials
    marking the criminalization of genocide. UCLA lecturer Dr. Rubina
    Peroomian delved into the vast array of literary works that have been
    produced in the wake of the post-Genocide era. She cited their significance
    to the cultural development of Armenians and their effect on the cultural
    identity of future generations.
    Dan Alba, Los Angeles Regional Director of Facing History and Ourselves,
    led the second half of the conference with his talk on the importance of
    implementing the already mandated teaching of genocides in the California
    public school curriculum. Dr. Levon Marashlian, Professor of History at
    Glendale Community College, continued with his insightful lecture on the
    history of legislation and denial of the Armenian Genocide which was
    accompanied by a montage of archival video footage. He also dissected the
    issues of reparations and reconciliation with the Republic of Turkey and
    between Armenians and Turks. Ardashes Kassakhian, Executive Director of
    ANCA-WR, ended the conference with an in depth analysis of the political
    fight in Congress to secure official U.S. acknowledgment of the Armenian
    Genocide and to pressure Turkey to recognize its past crimes against
    humanity.
    Garo Artinian, ANC San Diego Chair, said the conference was the first of a
    series of Genocide conferences that are to follow in the future.
    "We were quite pleased with the turnout of the first conference and
    lookforward to having it annually. Our goal is to educate the new
    generation who would become the future leaders. And with great anticipation
    that one day the world conscious would not permit of such violent acts
    against humanity," commented Artinian.
    "I'm very proud of the Armenian students at UC San Diego for working with
    us in order to bring together such an interesting panel of speakers to
    address these important issues and hope that such events continue to
    flourish in this great community in San Diego," he added.
    In addition to the Conference, the UC San Diego Armenian Student
    Association has organized several events during the past two years
    commemorating the Genocide and educating and raising public awareness
    amongst the campus community about its denial by Turkey. UC San Diego was
    the first campus in the Western United States to have the award winning
    film "Ararat" screened on its campus free of charge to the public.
    "We plan to have many more cultural and educational events through our
    growing organization of dedicated young activists and future leaders," said
    ASA President Mike Gedjeyan. "We look forward to continuing to work with
    the ANC on the next academic conference for 2005."
    The San Diego ANC already has plans for a similar conference next year
    according to Program Chair Dr. Robert Deranian. Earlier this year, the
    ANCA-WR Board honored Deranian with a San Diego Grassroots Activist of the
    Year award.
    The San Diego Genocide Conference Program Committee included Dr. Deranian,
    Artinian (Organizing Committee Co-Chair), Professor James Ajemian, Dr.
    Serop Karoglanian, Aykanush Galadzhyan, Gedjeyan (Organizing Committee
    Co-Chair), Sanaheen Kodjayian, Dr. Mark Nazarian, Dr. Nazikian, Hasmig
    Sillano and Professor Araxy Tatoulian.
    ************************************************** ************************
    3 - Glendale's Deukmejian Wilderness
    Park Re-opened at Ceremonies
    GLENDALE - The ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the re-opening of the
    Deukmejian Wilderness Park by the Glendale Parks, Recreation & Community
    Services Division was held recently at the park.
    The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, an open house, a children's
    crafts and light refreshments. Former Governor George Deukmejian was the
    special guest of honor.
    "I am highly honored and genuinely pleased that the City of Glendale has
    completed major improvements in the Deukmejian Wilderness Park, which will
    provide recreational and educational benefits to a countless number of
    people for decades to come," Deukmejian said.
    This site will serve as an educational facility for the Glendale park
    system, featuring programs and information focusing on the area's history,
    ecosystems, geology, hydrology and other natural systems. Welcoming remarks
    and introductions were made by President Charlie Carluccio, of the Glendale
    Commission of Parks, Recreation and Services. He was followed by comments
    from Glendale Mayor Robert Yousefian, former Mayor Larry Zarian, and
    Director of the Glendale Parks, Recreation & Community Services George
    Chapjian. Also addressing the audience, were Ranger Russ Hauck and Joe
    Edmiston, executive director, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
    The new park facilities will provide a staging area for recreation trails
    within the 700-acre park and beyond to the Angeles National Forest trail
    system. It will also serve as home to the Glendale Park Rangers.
    ************************************************** ************************
    4 - Dr. Karamanoukian Donates
    $250,000 to Armenian Center
    GLENDALE - Dr. Albert Karamanoukian of Glendale, Calif., donated $250,000
    for the building of an Armenian Center in Glendale.
    The announcement of the donation was made at a May 15 banquet sponsored by
    the ARF Aharonian Gomideh of Glendale, attended by more 400 guests at the
    Glendale Ararat Homenetmen Hall.
    The proposed Center will be built on property adjoining Glendale's St. Mary
    Church, on Central Avenue.
    The donation was in honor of Dr. Karamanoukian's parents Krikor and Mariam
    Karamanoukian.
    Addressing the audience, the benefactor expressed gratitude toward his
    nation and homeland for educating him and making his success possible, as
    well his contribution to the Armenian Center.
    Speakers and dignitaries at the banquet included Cong. Adam Schiff,
    Glendale Mayor Bob Yousefian, City Councilmember Raffi Manoukian, Glendale
    United School Board President Gregory Krinorian, College Trustee members
    Dr. Armine Hacopian and Ara Najarian, and others.
    ************************************************** ************************
    5 - Armenian Education in North America
    To be Reviewed at June 4-5 Conference
    GLENDALE - The Board of Regents of the Prelacy Armenian School are
    organizing a two-day conference to reassess Armenian education in Northern
    America in the context of the changing "Armenian-American Identity."
    Open to the public, the conference will be held June 4-5 at Woodbury
    University in Burbank, Calif.
    "The 21st century has placed new challenges before us," making "imperative
    for us to reassess the mission of Armenian education and the
    Armenian-American cultural identity issues in our schools," the Regents
    said in a statement release on May 20.
    All Armenian daily schools and their leaders have been invited to
    participate and bring their expertise to this dialogue, the Regents said,
    with the participation of well-known professionals and experts on the issue
    as presenters or panelists.
    While the Armenian day schools in North America have a history that dates
    back to more than 40 years, recent years have shown that some, if not all,
    the schools are having difficulties in coping with the financial, academic,
    and socialization issues that follows some of the explosive growth of the
    Armenian community in Southern California. Some of the schools suffer from
    aging facilities, others from cramped quarters, and yet others from the
    lack of finances that prevent the hiring and retention of qualified
    instructors required by a challenging academic environment.
    Sessions of the conference will be open to the public.
    For more information, contact the Board of Regents at (818) 500-0822, or
    e-mail [email protected]
    ************************************************** ************************
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    ************************************************** ************************
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