Netkurd about the Armenian genocide

Netkurd published yesterday, on the 24th April (the international rememberence day of the Armenian genocide), the article "Jenosîda ermeniyan û kurd" (The Armenian and Kurdish genocides) was published by the author Ibrahim Güclu.

Report on the London Launch of Desmond Fernandes’ The Kurdish and Armenian Genocide

Armenia Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides (ASVAG) and Nor Serount Cultural Association present a report on the London Launch of Desmond Fernandes’ The Kurdish and Armenian Genocides: From Censorship and Denial to Recognition? [Apec Press, Stockholm - ISBN: 91-89675-72-X].

The London launch of Desmond Fernandes’ book, The Kurdish and Armenian Genocides: From Censorship and Denial to Recognition?, took place in the House of Lords, Committee Room 3, on 12th March 2008, at 6.15pm. Organised jointly by The Kurdish Student and Academic Association (KSAF), Nor Serount Cultural Association, Armenia Solidarity, WeKurd, the Art and Science Education Group, the Youth Collective and the Kurdish Federation in the UK (FEDBIR), the event was sponsored and chaired by Lord Rea.

Messages of support were sent by Professor Noam Chomsky, Rosie Malek-Yonan (the Assyrian classically trained pianist, composer, actress, director, writer, documentary filmmaker and author of The Crimson Field), Muhammad Idrees Ahmad (from Spinwatch), Jean Lambert (Green MEP for London) and Nicholas Hildyard (policy analyst).

For Professor Noam Chomsky: “Fernandes has unearthed a remarkable treasure of surprising, often shocking, and most valuable information about Turkey and the Kurds, and about the crucial role of outside powers, notably the US , in facilitating major crimes. His revelations should be carefully pondered, along with the lessons we should draw from them”.

To Nicholas Hildyard: “This book is years overdue. For too long, the question of whether or not the repression directed against the Kurds amounts to genocide has been the elephant in the room in discussions on the ‘Kurdish question’. Desmond's book is meticulous in its research and courageous in its approach: he has not flinched at asking the difficult questions, even where they lead to uncomfortable conclusions. We owe him our thanks for fearlessly putting the issue on the table. Whether or not one agrees with his conclusions, open discussion of what lies behind the decades long repression of the Kurds is critical if a long-term resolution of the Kurdish issue is to be achieved”.

Muhammad Idrees Ahmad sent his wishes for “a very successful book launch … Fernandes has rendered invaluable service in revealing the interlocking interests of various pressure groups and the network of think-tanks through which they have come to dominate the policy process in the United States. His investigation of the nexus between the military-industrial complex and the Israel lobby, and its impact on the Kurdish question also has implications for the wider Middle East. The excellence of Fernandes' scholarship is matched only by the courage he has shown in tackling a subject that is often overlooked for fear of the potential harm it exposes proponents to”.

Jean Lambert conveyed her best wishes for the event. Rosie Malek-Yonan sent the following message: “In order to strive for world peace, we must first clean house. By that I mean we must acknowledge all genocides without exception. So long as these open wounds are not healed, we continue to pass on the hatred and anger towards one another because we feel defenseless. It is time to end the cycle of violence and hatred by opening the dialogue about atrocities that have occurred to all people of all nations particularly those nations who have been subjected to genocide. No one nation is above the rest. No one genocide is more important than the rest ... The recognition and acceptance of a genocide, and mass murder of nations is not to merely point a finger at a tyrant guilty of those crimes. It is acceptance of facts and truths with the ultimate goal to mend bridges between the races. It is not to merely condemn but to create the first step towards world peace”.

Desmond Fernandes briefly spoke about the issues and themes at the heart of the book, and thanked a number of people for their moral support. He also thanked Eilian Williams for helping to organise the event. Desmond noted the way in which the book was dedicated to the late Musa Anter (the Kurdish writer and intellectual - who was assassinated by Turkish state 'inspired' death squads - who explicitly referred to the Kurdish genocide as “genocide”) and the courageous and inspirational publisher and human rights activist, the late Ayse Zarakolu. He was honoured by the presence of Ragip Zarakolu (husband of Ayse, Chair of Writers in Exile – International PEN: Turkey Branch, and member of the International Committee – Freedom to Publish and the International Publishers Association), who specially flew from Turkey for the event.

Desmond noted the manner in which, “even now, in North West Kurdistan (South East Turkey) and South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) and Turkey as a whole, terrible things are happening. The Turkish government, as I and others such as Tove Skutnabb-Kangas show, is currently in breach of two articles of the United Nations’ Genocide Convention. It is still conducting a cultural genocide of Armenians and Kurds. The crime, legacy and human impact of genocide needs to be urgently recognised and addressed. The book recognises the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and other genocides, and examines policies of genocide denialism. As I show, the record of the US, UK, Israeli governments, and NATO, has really been shameful in all of this, alongside that of successive Turkish governments and a number of lobbying groups pursuing their own cynical economic and geopolitical agendas. The above have been complicit in assisting the Turkish state with its genocidal and/or genocide denialist actions. And as Articles 3b and 3e of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention make clear, 'conspiracy to commit genocide' and 'complicity in genocide' are international crimes. Article 4 of the Genocide Convention states that: 'Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in Article 3' – i.e. relating to ‘conspiracy to commit genocide' and/or 'complicity in genocide' - 'shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals'”. Desmond further clarified that many writers and human rights activists and academics – such as Ismail Besikci – have been criminalised, even as others have been murdered, for courageously and publicly exposing these issues. He paid all of the above his deepest respect, even as he expressed his opposition to those ideologies driving and 'inspiring' such targeting actions.

Ragip Zarakolu's moving speech emphasised the way in which people who raise these topics in Turkey continue to be, scandalously, criminalised. Zinur Duru and Kasim Agpak presented detailed and critical reviews of the book.

For Kasim: "One thing here needs to be recognised is that all atrocities do not only oppress or massacre a particular community, they also target the whole of humanity. They take all the good human values from us as we are, in a sense, losing the meaning of what it means to be human beings. If we, as human beings, did not turn a blind eye to the Armenian genocide, perhaps the Nazis would not dare such a crime. If we did not turn a blind eye to the Holocaust, perhaps the genocide in Rwanda would not have occured. Fernandes’ book in a way shows us our contradictions, in the sense of recognising our true human values".

Professor Khatchatur I. Pilikian's presentation - relating to genocide and the concepts of "cosmos" provided by Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term 'genocide' - was thought provoking. To Khatchatur, an artist, musician, writer and author of The Spectre of Genocide as Collateral Damage is Haunting the World and UNESCO Laureates: Nazim Hikmet & Aram Khatchaturian, and director of the 1970's programme HARC: The Heritage of Armenian Culture: "Desmond Fernandes speaks of the state total terror inflicted upon two ancient peoples of Anatolia, Armenians and Kurds, by a colonial usurper power first as an Empire - Ottoman - then as a Republic of Turkey. His book is a testimony that those two peoples, and others ... are not only thinking for themselves but are still continuing their struggle to prevent the 'draining of the spiritual resources of mankind'. Fernandes’ work also illustrates what the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal thus declared: '...To uncover and expose the genocidal reality makes it somewhat harder for those with motives of cover up to maintain their position. By validating the grievances of the victims, the Tribunal contributes to the dignity of their suffering and lends support to their continuing struggle. Indeed, acknowledging genocide itself is a fundamental means of struggling against genocide [and is] an affirmation of the right of a people under international law to a safeguarded existence'”.

To Ben Hayes, from Statewatch: "Reading Desmond’s book reminded me of another, the book that had the single greatest influence on my critical faculties and perhaps even my choice of career: Modernity and the Holocaust by Zygmunt Bauman. Some of you may be familiar with it. Bauman’s central thesis is that while the Nazis were a genocidal regime – albeit one that first used democracy to destroy democracy – many of the factors that made the Holocaust possible are characteristics of all modern states ...

"Reading Des Fernandes’ book, it struck me not just how right Bauman was, but how the world continues to grow more and more hypocritical and unjust with every passing year. What sort of a Europe is it that condemns the denial of one genocide, only to facilitate the denial of another? We have not merely failed to learn the lessons of the holocaust, as Des Fernandes and others have shown, we have turned the other cheek while our friends – the states of Turkey and Israel included – have committed and continue to commit appalling atrocities in the name of the 'Fatherland', the 'promised land', and, in the 21st century, 'homeland security'. The Kurds are victims of Empire, of Turkish state repression, and now - like all struggles for self-determination with a few notable geo-strategic exceptions - they are victims of the global 'war on terror'. International human rights law, the crowning glory of human civilisation”, he observed, “is supposed to ensure solidarity, support and protection for victims of state repression. And anyone who reads this book cannot fail to be moved to share in that solidarity. But under the 'war on terror', international law and the terrorist lists in particular now mean that the international community’s solidarity is with the oppressor, while public solidarity with the victims is being steadily criminalised ... I hope that Des Fernandes’ book can make the same contribution to debates about Britain’s shameful foreign policy as it does to giving a desperately needed voice to Kurdish and Armenian victims of crimes against humanity ... I think it was Orwell who said that: 'In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act', and so it is for the voices in this book".

Gurgîn Bakircioglu, Vice Chair of the Kurdish Student and Academic Association and Editor of Beyan.net, noted in his presentation that "the Turkish State remains on a mission of conquest while it continuously resists discussing and evaluating its past. These acts of denial are precisely why laws such as Article 301 of the Turkish penal code exist; for the sole purpose of denying people the right to criticize the present or even the past. The controversial and blurred article that the Turkish regime has created serves three purposes: Denial, of the past; Extermination, of today; and Prevention, of perceived future problems for the power of the State. So, the past is fabricated, the present is opposed and the future is protected from the people. There are many problems inside Turkey that should have been solved a long time ago; instead of solving them, threats from outside Turkey have been created so that the people would look away. These are the problems and conflicts inside Turkey that still are not solved: the institutionalised denial of the Armenian Genocide; the Kurdish oppression and as Desmond describes it, the Cultural Genocide of the Kurds; the Alevi question; the military power over the civilian authority. And the list goes on …

"I do not know if any of you remember or took notice of when the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan in 2004, stated in Washington , 'I am against Kurdish self-rule, even if it were in Argentina'. These statements are iconic of Turkey ’s policy of attempting to wipe out the Kurdish identity by eliminating any possibility of a Kurdish state. As it is said in Kurdish: 'Zimane me hebuna me ye'. Our language is our existence". Gurgîn additionally noted that Professor David Gaunt from Södertörn University College, a leading Armenian and Assyrian genocide scholar, supported the purpose of this meeting and sent "his best wishes to everyone in this room, and especially Mr. Fernandes".

The presentations were followed by stimulating discussions between members of the audience and members of the panel. Lord Rea thanked all those who attended the event.

Note: The book can be ordered securely online via Paypal at http://www.techybits.net/desfernandes/ at the recommended retail price of £14.99 (postage and packing free within the UK). It can also be ordered from the UK distributor AK Press and Distribution (http://www.akuk.com/ ; http://www.akuk.com/dosearch.php?itemid=5326 ).

Videoclip from the protest in Stockholm

The protest was held againt the Turkish primeminister tayyip erdogan that visited Sweden between 1-3 April 2008.
About 20 tv channels, newspapers and radiostations reported about the protests that was held

Kurds, Assyrians and Armenians protest in Stockholm

The Turkish prime minister Erdogan visited Sweden (1-3th April) and several protests was held against him and the Turkey but also that Sweden received him.

The Assyrian and Armenian protester screamed after genocide recognition and the Kurds after their rights self-independence.

Protests on Mynttorget, Sweden

Later on that thay, Kurdish protester outside Rosenband (Parliament buildings) where Erdogan held a press conference screamed "Recognize the Armenian genocide", "Stop killing our chidren" and "Long live Kurdistan".

Kurdish protesters at Rosenbad

Kurdified Armenians in northern Kurdistan

The interviews you will find in this post is pieces from an article By Hamo Moskofian in Wiesbaden-Marseilles ("SONS OF THE ARMENIAN NATION WHO "TURNED INTO" KURDS AND TURKS").

Photo: kurdish-info.net - Kurdish guerrilla

"I was born in Karmir Khach (Kzl Akhach) village of Taron. We shunned the Armenian Genocide as we accepted Islam feigningly and were Kurdish-speaking. My father and brother enrolled in the PKK to fight against Turkish fascism, they were imprisoned and tortured numerous times. I've been studying and working here in Germany for a long time and am in touch with the Armenian community and the progressive forces. But in Western Armenia, especially in originally Armenian Vardo town, which was stricken by an earthquake in 60s and where my relatives live, human rights violations are rampant"

Simon Kostanian (Sardet Kosdun), who regained his Armenian identity today, tells.

There are many hidden Armenians in Adiyaman (Kurdish= Sêmsûr), the Kurdish local tradition clothes has a strong influence from the Armenian culture.

"My parents concealed our identity particularly because being an Armenian was an unforgettable affront in Adiamani where I am coming from. Despite this, many "Kurdish" and "Turkish" Armenians were called gavur* . The film I am trying to shoot is about an Armenian outcast and also is an odyssey of a Western Armenians who survived the Genocide. I shall realize my plans if I find necessary support in Armenia and by the help of our confederates in Western Europe"

Razmik tells. (Gavur* means infidel)

Starving Armenians in Mush humiliated by a wealthy man with a piece of bread

"There are around 1000 Armenians in Mush. The Turkish government has forgotten us for a while, as there are the Kurds to deal with. The sons of the Kurdish people say sorry for their fathers' deeds who were killing Armenians together with the Turks"

Armen from Mush says.

The following wiki-article is created by Kurdistan and Hayastan

Kurdish recognition of the Armenian genocide

Click here to read the Wiki-article

Hovhannes Badalian - the Armenian dengbêj

The meaning of dengbêj in Kurdish is not the same thing as stiranbêj, stiranbêj means singer but dengbêj means something in style with "singer without instrument" or "one man trubadur singer". The common dengbêj song in Kurdish is a sad song about love, life or death.

There are no Armenian dengbêj but there are Armenians singing as Kurdish dengbêj in Kurdish, like Hovhannes Badalian. Hovhannes was, like Karapetê Xaco and Aramê Tîgran, singing in the northern Kurdish dialect Kurmancî.


Badalian was Armenian from Iran and was born in 1924, Hovhannes family fled to Iran during the genocide against the Armenians in the Ottoman empire (Turkey). Unfortunately he passed away in Yerevan, 2001.

Sivan Perwer about the Armenian genocide

Sivan Perwer speaks about the Armenian Genocide.


Visit Freemuse.org for full clip!

Sivan is a Kurdish poet, writer, musical teacher, singer, and the leading Kurdish artist. He is considered by many Kurds as the greatest Kurdish musician of all time. He holds several honorary doctorates in music.

Not another Hrant!

The Turkish nationalist party leader, Dog together with twelve other people, including a retired Turkish general has been arrested over an plan to kill Orhan Pamuk and Kurdish figures like Osman Baydemir, Leyla Zana and Ahmet Turk.

Orhan has recieved numerous death threats since he said the following sentences:

"Thirty thousand Kurds, and a million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody dares to talk about it."

"What happened to the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a major thing that was hidden from the Turkish nation; it was a taboo. But we have to be able to talk about the past."
During an award ceremony in Germany: "I repeat, I said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey."

Orhan supported the Kurdish political rigths in 1995, he wa in a group of authors tried for writing essays that criticized Turkey's treatment of the Kurds.

[Facebook group] - Kurds Recognize the Armenian Genocide

The creator is a Kurd settled in the US. The description of the group is:

Kurds Recognize the Armenian Genocide! The Kurds view the the Genocide of the Armenians as a black chapter in history and recognize the genocide as a shameful event. the Kurds stand with the Armenians and condemn Turkey for continuously denying the genocide and condemn the KUrdish tribes that worked with the Ottoman empiure during those times. Kurdish President and parliaments in kurdistan and in exile and many other Kurds have recognized the genocide and some Kurdish leaders have even written about it in their books.

Turkey should learn from Australia

photo: Lisa Olsson

This was the Australian newpaper Indigenous Times the day after that the PM of Australia Kevin Rudd held a speech in the parliament where he appologized to the Aboriginal people, the 13th February will always be remembered amoung the Aboriginal people as the "Sorry day".
The apology was a step in the rigth direction even if the threatment against the Aboriginal people was not labeled as a genocide.

The Armenians is next in line, waiting for a apology and recognition that a genocide occured and that over 1.5 million people was killed in this genocide. Turkey can not open a new era until the "G" word is solved.

Will Sabah ever publish a similar "We say sorry" frontpage to the Armenians as the Indigenous Times did?

Kurdish protester: Not another Armenian Genocide

Turkey is not far from committing Kurdish genocide

From KurdishAspect.com

Turkey’s double standard is very obvious when the Turkish President sending friendly messages to Europe and presenting the democratic side of secular Turkey while restating on fighting the PKK. Turkey has to apologize for the Armenian genocide instead of committing another massacre in Iraqi Kurdistan.

...

A boycott was carried out by the Turkish streets in response to the implementation of the human right laws by European countries. In 2000 the Turkish consumer association boycotted Belgian made products, asking Belgian to undermine its civil society and extradite someone to be executed in Turkey. In 2006 various Turkish supermarkets also boycotted French products, because the French parliament passed the Armenian genocide bill.

Vle & Karen Gevorkain - Cheko

Armenian Kurdish song

Armenian artist making fun of the Turkish warfare