60th anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention

A warm invitation to two important meetings to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN
Genocide Convention, on tuesday, 9th December

1 "The Minorities of Turkey face the continuing Cultural Genocide"

In Committee Room 17 of the House of Commons

at 12 noon, 9th december

Agenda:
1 The recent comments by the Turkish Prime Minister and Defence Minister

Prime Minister Recep T. Erdogan, on 4th November 2008 (at the press conference for
the visit of the Lebanese Prime Minister, Fuad Siniora),said that "Turkey consists
of one nation, one flag and one land and that anyone who is not in agreement with
this should leave the country".

On the 10th november in Brussels,Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül celebrated
the genocide of Armenians, praising the policy of what he termed the "deportation",
because it allowed the construction of the Turkish nation. And he added: "Would it
be possible today to maintain the same national State if the existence of Greeks in
the Aegean region and of Armenians in several regions of Turkey had continued as
before?"

2 The Human Rights of Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Crypto-Armenians,
Crypto-Assyrians

Speakers: Des Fernandes

Prof Gregory Stanton (President of International Assoc. of Genocide Scholars)
An Assyrian speaker from Turkey

Sponsor and Chair : Dr. Bob Spink MP (Independent)

Co-organisers : Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides,(SVAG)
Nor Serount Cultural Association
CHAK (Centre of Halabja)
supported by
Seyfo Centre

RSVP to eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk 07876561398 or 07718982732

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2 The present ethnic cleansing of the Minorities of Iraq-
will Britain take some responsibility for a solution?

in Room 2A of the House of Lords

on Tuesday, 9th December

6.30 p.m. till 8.00 p.m.

Co-organisers: "Lobby for the Christians and other Minorities of Iraq"
Centre of Halabja, (C.H.A.K.)

Confirmed speakers:(all speeches will be brief)- :Dr Layla Alrummi of the Mandaean Human Rights organisation Researcher Nicola Craven on Mandaean refugees in Syria
Archbishop Toma,(Syriac Church) , Fr. Khoshaba Georges,(Ancient Church of the East)
Fr Habib (Chaldean Church)--- one joint statement Neville Kyrke-Smith, the National Director of Aid to the Church in Need UK Adnan Kochar of CHAK (Halabja Centre) on Yezidis and Kurdish-Minority relations The Syrian Ambassador HE Dr. Sami Al Kiyami on aid to refugees in Syria

Themes of the discussion
1 Protection of, and aid to Minorities in Iraq
2 Aid to minority refugees in Syria .
3 The UK's closed doors to Iraqi Minority assylum seekers
4 Co-ordinated lobbying of the government and parliament
5 "What leverage, if any, does the UK have on the Iraqi government?"
5 "Towards an Assyrian-Kurdish dialogue"

Sponsor and chair: Lord Alton

Press Release
Armenia Solidarity
Nor Serount Cultural Association
C.H.A.K.(Centre of Halabja)

The 90th anniversary of the betrayal of Armenia and the Assyrian/Suriani and
Kurdish nations in the Mudros Armstice (signed by Britain and Turkey on the
30th october 1918) was commemmorated this weekend in front of the Prime
Minister's home at 10 Downing Street, London and at the cenotaph.

Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds gathered to remind the signatory nations that
both countries have a heavy responsibility for the predicament of today's
Assyrians, thousands of whom live impoversished lives as refugees from Iraq in
Syria.

The speeches contained the following:
"The genocide of 1915 ensured that Tur Abdin, Hakari and other regions were
emptied of their Assyrian/Suriani population. Likeiwse for Armenians from Western
Armenia( Van, Bitlis, Moush, Erzurum etc)

Certainly .Turkey has a responsiblity to provide for the return of thousands
of Assyrian/Suriani Refugees and make a committment to some degree of
autonomy. This would provide another option for those currently languishing in
poverty in Syria.
The EU, and especially the UK has a responsibility to bear the financial cost of
this resettlement if Turkey is allowed membership.
We accuse Turkey of continuing cultural genocide, with the UK giovernment
deliberately looking the other way and complying with the crimes of its
strategic and financially lucrative ally
I
The following letter was delivered.

To The Prime Minister and the Foreign Serretary,
Armenia Solidarity
Dear Sirs,
This week we mark the nintieth anniversary of the Great Betrayal of
Armenians and Assyrians in the Mudros armstice with Turkey (30th october
1918). We ask you to consider what measures of restitution are suitable as
we believe that it was criminal of Britain to agree to the terms of the
armstice.The lack of a homeland for Assyrians and the continued Turkish
control of Western Armenia is a direct result of the armstice.The Assyrians
in particular have been subjected to subsequent massacres emanating from
Britain's hand in the creation of Iraq, a centralised state without
provision for the protection of minorities. It is indicative of our
selective amnesia about our past responsibilities that only two MPs have
signed the EDM on the 75th anniversary of the Simel massacre of Assyrians in
1933 soon after the end of the British Mandate.
The latest pogrom of Christian Assyrian and Armenian Christians in Mosul
two weeks ago must surely worry our consiences. We appeal to you not to
persist in ensuring that Britain continualy assumes the role of a Pontius
Pilate with respect to this problem
The continuing cultural Genocide in Turkey, with the descendants of
forcibly Islamized Armenians and Assyrians still living in fear of
disclosing their identities, and Armenian and Assyrian heritage
deliberately destroyed, must be addressed before Turkey makes any progress
towards EU membership.
We request a private meeting with you to discuss these matters. The
article below may refresh your memory concerning Britain's past dealings.
Regards,
Eilian Williams
Bagrad Nazarian

Enclosed are details of the nature of the betrayal
The Mudros Armstice(30th october 1918) did not contain
conditions on Armenia or the Assyrian homeland. It left the 6 Armenian villayets
under the
sovereignty of Turkey and no provision was made for the repartiation of
Armenian refugees and deportees to their homes.There was no occupation of
statregic points by the Allies and no provision for the release of women and
children. There was no disarming of the Turkish army.it would have been
possible to gain concessions surely from the Turks, as 3 out of 4 proposals
for peace from Turkish sources included concessions on Armenia.The armstice
was hastily signed in order to ensure that the victorious fleet sailing into
Constantinople would be commanded by a British rather than a French admiral!
In order to secure the Dardanelle straits, Palestine and Mesopotamia for
Britain, concessions were given to the Turks over Armenia.The draft terms of
the armstice were discussed in six war cabinet meetings. The British
priorities were set: there was no mention of Armenia at all.Almost all the
concesions made at Mudros were at the expense of the Armenians.The
conditions were set which eventually enabled the Turks to gain complete
control of Armenia and even gain part of "Russian" Armenia.
Balfour wrote the Supreme Council 's reply to the Turkish delegation in
july 1919. He characterised the "calculated atrocity" of the wartime Turkish
massacres as equalling or exceeding "anything in recorded history". Lord
Curzon, his successor as foreign secretary agreed that Turkish rule over the
subjrect races should no longer be allowed.
Activist Emily Robinson maintained that armstice terms had provided for
the return of all prisoners of war. Yet only male prisoners were released
and "about 100,000 Armenian women and children remained captives still" As a
result of her efforts, the League of Nations had appointed in 1920 three
commissioners to enquire into the conditions of these detainees.. In 1923
however in reply to her enquiries, the Foreign Office had written that the
Turks at Lausanne "refused to allow the work of the comission to continue".
She was outraged. This meant, she wrote to Canon J.A.Douglas that the Turks
have flouted the desicion of the League and that they had been upheld by the
victorious powers Grieved that the Allies would go to any lenth to secure
concessions to themselvesinstead of carrying out pledges to liberate Turkish
Armenia,she wrote"By betraying Armenia the Allies have
destroyed not only faith in themselves but in other things as well"

During The Paris Peace Conference Britain behaved shamefully towards the
Assyrians, preventing two of their delegations from attending the
conference.

Kurdish-Armenian-Assyrian-Turkish protest!

Association of the Democrat Armenians of Belgium
Kurdish Institute of Brussels
European Armenian Federation
Associations of the Assyrians of Belgium
Info-Turk Foundation

Source: http://www.info-turk.be

Enough With This Turkey!

On the occasion of the Dersim Conference held at European Parliament on November 13, 2008, five Brussels organisations belonging to different communities coming out from Turkey have issued the following joint declaration:

For three millennium, Anatolia has been the homeland or have passed through it countless people. It is a land where coexisted and coexist today Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Jews, Zazas, as well as a number of other minorities such as Lazes, Circassians, Pomaks, Yörüks, and others.

Certain of these people and the majority have adopted the Apostolic Christianity, others have converted to Roman Catholicism or Orthodoxy, some became Nestorians or Chaldeans; while others turned Sunni Muslims, Shiites or Alevi Muslims; and still others remained Yezidis or Mazdeists or kept their shamanic beliefs.

This coexistence naturally led to disputes - sometime very violent - but it led also and above all to a cultural closeness and to an ethnic intermingling which challenge all ideologies that are based on racial or linguistic purity: today, the overwhelming majority of Turkey's inhabitants are of mixed origins.

However, the Ottoman Empire and then after it the Kemalist republic have artificially reshaped the land's multy-ethnic identity by reducing the dominated people into slavery, by denying their identity, and then by promoting the doctrine of the Turkish "race" as the "essential being". This fascist like thinking has led the authorities perpetrate abominable mass murders such as:

• * The Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean Genocide (1915-1916)

• * The Koçkiri massacre of Kurds, Alevis and Kizilbachs (1919-1921)

• * The brutal expulsion of Greeks (1923-1924)

• * Massacres of Kurds and Assyrians after the revolt of Sheikh Said (1925-1928)

• * The Dersim Massacre of Kurds, Alevis and Kizilbachs (1935-1938)

• * The iniquitous laws and the deportations of Armenians, Jews and Greeks (1942)

• * Pogroms of lstanbul and Izmir against Greeks, Armenians and Jews (1955)

• * War against Kurds (since 1984)

It has to be recalled, that since its creation, the Kemalist republic targets and represses all political opponents to the regime, whatever their ethnic origin, including Turkish democrats.

Lastly, the ultranationalist and genocide denial policies of Ankara utilise the Turkish immigrants in the European countries and with the complicity of certain local European political leaders incite them to hatred towards the Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish communities.

Facing this ideology to hate and its bloody consequences, the peoples of Anatolia:

• * Rebuke the idea of any racial of religious supremacy and reaffirm their indefectible attachment to the individual fundamental rights of all the Turkish citizens as well as to the collective rights of the people living in this State;

• * Reject the fiction of a monolithic Turkey as extolled by the Turkish State and, on the contrary, call upon the State to pride on the ethnic wealth and diversity of the Anatolian people;

• * Ask again the Turkish State to rehabilitate itself in rehabilitating the victims of its past exactions, in committing itself on the path of the political recognition of these exactions and in giving an end to their denial or glorification;

• * Proclaim their conviction that the incapacity of Turkey to progress on the path of democracy, as well as the state of economical and social backwardness of its eastern provinces are closely linked to the war conducted by this State towards its own citizens;

• * Reaffirm their commitment to keep on the political struggle so that Turkey recognize, denounce and disassociate from its past and present crimes; to transform it into a democratic State which would respect its minorities as its various political forces, united in their diversity.

Kurds in the loop of the Armenian adventure

From Kurdistan.ru

Wednesday, 06 August 2008

Beginning from the last century, Kurds periodically became the object of speculative and adventurous games. The head of the national union of [ezidov] of the peace Of [aziz] Of [tamoyan] it turned to Yerevan authorities, to the government of Iraq, United Nations in connection with the assignment to [ezidam] of autonomy into the places of their stay. In the undercurrent of the rotation of speaker[a] of official Yerevan under the term autonomy are clearly outlined occupied by Armenians the Azerbaijan earth. However, the need for its request proceeds allegedly from the disturbance of the rights of the Kurds of [ezidov] by their Moslem brothers, which, in the opinion [A]. [Tamoyan], is manifested in the identification of Kurds with [ezidami]. Theme for [Etnoglobusa] in the exclusive interview comments on the Kurdish writer Ahmet [Apo].

- Armenian politicians for the first time do not attempt to present [ezidov] as individual ethnos.
I as men not the first day, which is occupied by these problems, from the first days traced in this the very thin policy of Yerevan, directed toward the expansionism. Separate Azerbaijan and Turkish media outlets inflate, that in that occupied of Armenia highland Karabakh are placed the armed forces [PKK]. However, Armenian of policy, relying on these given, they declare, which Azerbaijan wants to use this information as occasion for the beginning of military actions in highland Karabakh.
I count, this by the sequential trick of Yerevan, which is attempted sequential time to use a Kurdish map for the reinforcement of its occupational policy on the occupied Azerbaijan lands.
In 1993, official Baku turned to the world community in connection with the occupation by the Armenian armed forces of the adjacent highland Karabakh Azerbaijan territories. Yerevan authorities began [kontrigru] by several Kurds by [ezidami] and the Moslem Kurd from Azerbaijan Of [vekila] Of [mustafaeva]. They, coming out on the Yerevan television, reported creation in [Lachynskom] the region of Kurdish autonomy occupied, on the base of red [Kurdestana] existed in Azerbaijan in the twentieth years.

I will immediately state that in those years in Azerbaijan were formed the districts, including since 1923. until 1929. there was a Kurdish district, which later was abolished together with others, in connection with the liquidation of districts. No red [Kurdestana], as the autonomous administrative district in the composition of Azerbaijan there did not exist and all discussions around this bear speculative nature.

It asks itself, if actually Armenians then worried about the fate of the autonomy of Kurds, then why from Armenia in the connection [armyano]- Azerbaijan conflict brutally evicted tens of thousands of Kurds of Moslems, woman, children, old men were killed and proved to be in the Armenian captivity, whose fates are not still known.
(about this read - http://www.ethnoglobus.com/index.php?page=full&id=108)
Why thoughtful Armenian authorities did not grant autonomy in Armenia to Kurds.

However, Armenia using a Kurdish map, it attempted to demonstrate to the world community, that the occupation By [lachynskoy], [Zangelanskoy], The [gubadlinskie] and [Kelbadzharskie] regions, was realized not by them, but by the Kurds, who want to renew their autonomy in this territory. The group of the persons, the represented as leaders the so-called Kurdish autonomy were located in [Lachynskom] the region occupied only week. Further naturally everything was forgotten.

The present activity Of [a].[Tamoyana] hides in itself an attempt at the resuscitation of Kurdish map in highland - a Karabakh question. Official Baku, from the support of the international organizations and West with each day increasingly more zealous requires fast resolution of highland Karabakh conflict. Yerevan, driven in to the blind alley, resisting before the growing pressure in a question of regulating conflict, searches for the new levers of pressure. Statements [A].[Tamoyana] about the assignment to [ezidam] of autonomy is made up by the same intentions.

It is confident, that, speaking about the autonomy for [ezidov], [Tamoyan] bears in mind those occupied by Armenians Azerbaijan territories.

I.e., [ezidy], requiring the assignment by them of autonomy, must preserve for Armenia The [lachynskiy] corridor, which it is discussed in the course of the peaceful of the talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of the exchange of territories. Unfortunately, the Kurds of [ezidy], again become change map for Yerevan, in what they are guilty themselves.
Armenia never will allow creation, what or autonomy in the occupied territories, those more it will not allow the arrangement in highland Karabakh of the armed forces [PKK]. The Azerbaijan earth were occupied not for the Kurds. Armenian politicians and then now attempt to lead into error the world community, the not always being examined essence matter.
Concerning, the Kurds of [ezidov], it is necessary to recall that since the beginning of the propagation of Islam 90% Kurds was accepted the Mohammedanism. Small part, being covered in The [shangal] mountains in Iraq, preserved its original religion - [ezidizm]. In the 60- years I graduated from institute in Armenia and worked in the newspaper Of [rya] Of [tyazya] (new way), which is published in Yerevan. There all colleagues were Kurds by [ezidami], I was only Muslim. But we spoke in one language - on the dialect of [kurmandzhi]. Our epos, traditions, folklore are united. In that case as we can be different peoples. According to official data in the Soviet period in Armenia they lived 53 000 Kurds of [ezidov] and Moslems. 20 000 Kurds of Moslems were evicted from Armenia. In such a case as in Armenia they can live 50 000 Kurds of [ezidov].
In the International conferences it was repeatedly met with the Kurds by [ezidami], which themselves declare, that the majority of community left from Armenia and now compact they live in the different regions of Russia and CIS. In Armenia barely it remained Kurdish intelligentsia. Is stopped the activity of the Kurdish newspaper Of [rya] Of [tyazya]. The time of the radio of transfers in the Kurdish language on on to Armenian radio, is reduced from one-and-a-half hours to 15 minutes. Closed Kurdish department in the Academy of Sciences of Armenia. But in Azerbaijan Kurds [ezidy] in one historical stage did not live.

- In Russia is created the Kurdish encyclopedia, where the Azerbaijan historical personalities, writers present as by Kurdish. The actually this encyclopedia revives the ambitions, which exist among the Kurdish community. By these actions, the creators of this encyclopedia resemble the Armenians, who constantly deal with awarding strange cultures. Kurdish culture so whether poor which does need awarding of strange culture?

- To me it is known about the creation of this encyclopedia. I think that the Azerbaijan authors of Kurdish origin can be included in encyclopedia. If it is actual, as writes press in the encyclopedia Of [a].[Bakikhanov], [Kh].[B].[Natavan], [Ashug] they are ruby-colored, [A]. Vieilles and other Azerbaijan eminent figures are represented as Kurdish, then this bears the purpose of the hunting of peoples.

I was personally familiar with writer Ali [Veliev]. This major personality the writer, who was Azerbaijanian. It was orphan and it brought up in the Kurdish family, it was respectively grateful to them, also, with the large respect and it related by heat to this people. The same can be said and other personalities.

I consider that those, the writers, who present the Turkish epos Of [kerogly] as Kurdish, are not absolutely familiar with the Kurdish spirituality and the traditions. If it is actual [Kerogly], Kurdish epos, stolen by Turks, then why there is no its Kurdish version. There is this version of some authors, that [Kerogly] he was on the origin Kurd. But in the oral creation of the Kurdish people of concrete epos by the name There is no [kerogly]. In Kurds are a set their heroic epos as smoke smoke, [Alie] [Khardie], [Gyar] in [Kylyk] and others with the national coloring and the spirituality, which for some reason remain out of the field of propaganda. It wished the Kurdish epos to be transferred into the foreign languages, for the creation of idea about the Kurdish folklore among other peoples.
Being repulsed from similar statements, the Azerbaijan authors [opravdanno] can as the answer write that the Kurds do not have their culture, literature, traditions, folklore, history and they are forced to appropriate strange intellectual wealths. Some Kurdish scientists, knowing anything about the works of ancient Kurdish culture, folklore, cannot it propagandize. For peace it is necessary to show the models of present Kurdish culture and folklore, but not appropriated. Kurdish people folklore culture one of the rich in the east and does not need strange intellectual wealths.
Unfortunately, Kurds again proved to be drawn into the adventure. I as Kurd do not need Azerbaijan writers and poets, since our written language departs in IX century to the works of Ali [Khariri]. Kurdish people during its history grew the sufficiency of personalities, with which it is worthwhile to be proud and to propagandize. It is certainly simpler, to be occupied by intriguing, than to transfer the Kurdish authors and to acquaint by them the world reader.

Azeri media: Obama’s Sympathy towards Armenian, Kurdish Lobby can Harm US-Turkey Ties

Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 November/ TrendNews, corr B. Hasanov/ If Barack Obama’s pro-Armenian position he demonstrated during election campaign and his sympathy for Kurds influences his political decisions during his presidency, it can harm US-Turkey relations to a great extent.

“During Obama’s term of office, serious contradictions can appear in foreign policy of the United States and Turkey,” well-known Turkish expert Husnu Mahalli said to TrendNews by telephone from Istanbul.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has sent a congratulatory letter to the newly-elected US president Barack Obama. In his letter, Gul expressed his hope that US-Turkey ties will strengthen, CNNTURK reported.

Turkey-US ties strengthened after World War II. During cold war, Turkey became one of the major allies of the Unites States in a fight against enlargement of the Soviet Union and socialist bloc to West. At that time, US rendered economic and military assistance to Turkey. Instead, Turkey took part in the Armed Forces in Korean war in 1950-1953. In 1952, Turkey was admitted to NATO, military wing of Western bloc led by US. In 1954, Turkey permitted US to build Injirlik military base in its territory. This base played a great role during cold war, first war in the Gulf and the Iraqi war.

In 1980s and 1990s, Turkey-US relations further enhanced and in 1991 Turkey supported US to a great extent in the first Gulf war. However, so-called claim of “Armenian genocide” that appeared during these years caused political tension in US-Turkey relations. When US wanted to use Turkish territory for intervention into Iraq in 2003, Turkey answered in the negative which evoked a big tension between the two countries. However, there has been a thaw in Turkey-US relations since 2007. Kurdish Labor Party and so-called Armenian genocide are the most vulnerable issues in Turkey-US ties.

Turkey is concerned over certain statements made by US President barrack Obama during election campaign. In particular, Turkey is concerned over Obama’s pro-Armenian approach to the issue of “Armenian genocide”. Mehelli said there is a reason for concerns. “During election campaign Obama said he recognizes “Armenian genocide” and gave consent in a written form that he will raise this question in the Congress.

Obama’s Political position does not coincide with that of Turkey not only is the issue of genocide, but also in the issue of Kurds, he said. Mehelli attributed Obama’s different position to the people around him. “Vice President Joseph Biden has good relations with Armenian lobby and has a great sympathy for Kurds. His position can cause problems in US-Turkey relations in future,” Mehelli said.

Shanli Bahadir Koch, Strategic Studies Center for the United States said Obama’s attitude towards Armenian and Kurdish lobby can lead to a political tension between then two countries. The most alarming issue is Obama’s position towards the so-called “genocide”. There are some alarming points in Obama’s position towards Kurds as well. If Obama pulls out US troops from Iraq in a short-term period as he promised, in order to hinder Turkey to intervene into North Iraq, he will demand Turkey to recognize Kurdish administration in Iraq and establish good relations. Excluding “genocide” and issue of Kurds, there are many points in Obama’s foreign policy coinciding with that of Turkey. “Obama’s efforts to solve Near East and Iraq problems through dialogue fully coincide with the political position of Turkey, Koch said to TrendNews by telephone from Ankara.

European expert Svante Cornell believes that Obama’s foreign policy line will depend on a team he will choose. “One can analyze Obama’s foreign policy after he appoints the secretaries of departments,” Kornel said to TrendNews by telephone from Stokholm. He said US presidential candidates always make such statements during election campaign. However, they act on the base of realities after they assume office.

Newly-elected US President Barack Obama will assume office on 20 January 2009.

Obama’s stand on Genocide and Kurdish issues contradicts Turkey’s position

/PanARMENIAN.Net/



If Barack Obama’s pro-Armenian position he demonstrated during election campaign and his sympathy for Kurds affects his political decisions during his presidency, it can harm the U.S.-Turkey relations to a great extent, a Turkish expert said.

“During Obama’s presidency, serious contradictions can appear in foreign policy of the United States and Turkey,” Husnu Mahalli said.

Turkey is particularly concerned over Obama’s plegdes to recognize the Armenian Genocide and raise the issue in Congress, Mehelli said.

“Furthermore, Vice President Joseph Biden has good relations with Armenian lobby and a great sympathy for Kurds. His position can cause problems in U.S.-Turkey relations in future,” he added.

Sanli Bahadir Koc, expert at the Center of Strategic and International Studies said Obama’s attitude toward Armenian and Kurdish lobby can lead to political tensions between then two countries.

The most alarming issue is Obama’s position on the Armenian Genocide, according to him.

“There are some alarming signals in Obama’s stand on the Kurdish problem. If Obama pulls out U.S. troops from Iraq in a short-term period as he promised, in order to prevent Turkey from intervening into Northern Iraq, he will urge Turkey to recognize Kurdish administration and establish relations with it,” he said, Trend Azeri news agency reports.

CIA about the Armenians in southern Kurdistan,

Source: http://www.foia.cia.gov/

Article about the close connection between the Armenian and Kurdish languages

Read the full article here


Parts from the article:

Bi kurdî:
Ejdehek, Ejdeher

Bi ermenkî:
Ajdahak

...

Some of the similar words in Armenian and Kurdish (nomad): Koçerî – Koçarî

Article - Kurds Of Armenia Against Turkey

Source

Waving the Kurdish and Armenian flags to and fro and with the pictures
of Ocalan on the flags, groups of Kurds organized a protest today
near the Shahumyan square to demand the release of head of the PKK
Abdullah Ocalan.

"We demand Turkey to release Ocalan. We condemn the Turks for that
act of terrorism and for torturing our Ocalan. As long as we live,
we are going to fight for our freedom," said Sevil Amoyan.

Kurdish leader Ocalan has been in the Imali prison for 10 years for a
conspiracy and has been treated violently. Recently, there are more
threats that the Turks are ready to exterminate him. As a state,
Turkey is no different from the prison. This time the violence is
aimed not only at one person, but also the Kurds, who have found
themselves as hostages and have rose to defend their leader from
possible encroachments," said protester Emij Elyan.

The protesters moved towards the UN office where they handed the
statement made by the "Kurdistan" committee of Armenia stating the
following:

"We call on all humanity, states and international organizations
to combine efforts and establish democracy in Turkey, eliminate the
threat of extermination of the Kurds and secure peace and justice in
the world."

We Stand For The Brotherhood Of The Peoples Of The World

Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile
129a Avenue Louise
1050 Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +322-539-3033
Fax: +322-539-3887

Press Release #1
April 23, 1995

We Stand For The Brotherhood Of The Peoples Of The World

In addition to the Kurds, there are Armenians and Assyrians living in Kurdistan. The invasion and occupation of their lands have adversely affected all three constituent peoples. The implementation of divide and rule policies have resulted in internal feuding. The natives of millenniums have fought one another and forced each other to migrate.

A most telling example of this policy was put into action in 1915. For a few years, we were provoked to kill one another in order to benefit our self-appointed leaders.

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman administrators began a policy of annihilating the Armenians and the Assyrians. This was a plan long in the making, meticulously carried out with the aid of some tribal Kurds who were organized into an auxiliary force, the 'Hamidiye Alaylari' or Hamidiye Brigades, of the Istanbul government.

Today, a similar force has been established, the 'Koy Koruculari' or village guards. In that singular act of brutality at the turn of the century, millions of Armenians, Assyrians, and
Kurds were murdered and many more were forced to embrace the coldness of diaspora.

The policy of divide and rule has been inherited by the new Turkish government in Ankara. The same hideous crimes are now inflicted on the Kurds.
At times, the Kurdish religious communities are provoked into fighting one another, as the Alevis and Sunnis do from time to time. A more sinister plan is the empowerment of an
auxiliary force of mercenary Kurds to fight against their fellow Kurds who are on the side of freedom and liberty. New chapters of blood and pain, suffering and migration are written daily in the history of Turkey.

A cursory look at the history of the Ottomans reveals more about the nature of the Turkish state's practices. In Asia Minor, historians tell us, there were once vibrant societies, different
languages, and various cultures. Today, there are no vestiges left of these communities. A similar policy is now in the works for Kurdistan: Some Kurds are killed, many are legally and forcibly made to become Turks, and more are forced to flee in an attempt to end the way of life which is known as Kurdistan.


As the Chair of the Executive Council of the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile, a representative body of the Kurds in diaspora, I am urging the world public opinion not to let history repeat itself and not to remain silent to the annihilation of the Kurds.


Tomorrow is the 80th anniversary of the massacres of the Armenians and the Assyrians. Let history note that we at the Parliament of Kurdistan in Exile share the pain of the survivors
and their relations. We unequivocally denounce the act and condemn the perpetrators of this inhumanity, the Ottomans and their collaborators of the Kurdish auxiliary forces. We urge you all to do the same.

Zubeyir Aydar,
Chair of the Executive Council

Armenians of Mosul - Southern Kurdistan

(Armenian flag in Mosul)

Most of the Armenians originally came from Iran and first settled in the southern part of Iraq. While they have been moving into Iraq for several centuries, the largest movement of Armenian people came during the early twentieth century as they fled the persecution of the Armenian Genocide.

It is estimated that there are about 20,000 Armenians living in the entire country with communities in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk and Dohuk.

Around 15.000 Assyrians have left Mosul the last month because of attacks from fundementalists and terrorists (the city is in the middle of iraqi Kurdistan and Iraq).

This was published in Panorama last week about the Armenians in Mosul during this attacks:

The situation in Mosul city, Iraq is calmed down and 40 Armenian families living in the city and the Armenian Church are not under threat, said Tigran Balayan, the head of public relations department of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia. “We are in contact with the church and we know that the Government sent military forces to defend local people,” said T. Balayan.

Remind that on Sunday Armenian businessman Farkes Batul was murdered in the aftermath of extremists’ attack.

On Dec. 7, 2004, an armed group of commandos stormed an Armenian Catholic church in Mosul, ushered everyone out of the building, then detonated two bombs, reducing the church to rubble. Some two hours later, a group of armed men attacked the Chaldean bishop's residence in another part of the city.

During the Persian Gulf War, of the 1,500 Armenians living with the predominant Kurd population in the northern town of Zakho, three soldiers serving in Saddam Hussein's military were killed in coalition air strikes in Kuwait, Basra, and Mosul, respectively.

Many Armenian fled to southern Kurdistan, Mosul during the Armenian genocide in 1915. Here is one story from a surviver that fled to Mosul:

An Armenian woman Mariam Sepan Sarkismeherian said that her family was originally from Dehe in Armenia, and had fled to Mosul after the 1915 genocide.Only her father survived from his whole family. They all said that they were too afraid to go back to Mosul. Even if things improve, the terrorists will always come back, because they want the “Christian infidels” to leave. Many of the people said that they would be willing to go to Europe if they were accepted.

Avzrok - Armenian village in southern Kurdistan

(Text: "Orthodox Armenian Church of Avzrok" built in 2000-2001)

Avzarok in Kurdish) is a village in the Iraqi province of Dohuk. The village is split into two areas: one populated by Armenians and the other by Assyrians. The name of the village comes from the Kurdish language; av - water and zrog - yellow.


It was built for the first time in 1932 when the Armenians of Zakho and its suburbs decided to establish the village and settle in it. The village was subject of destruction in 1975. The Armenian inhabitants of Avzrog don't speak Armenian. They use Arabic and Kurdish languages instead. Despite this, Armenians in Avzrog maintain their Armenian social identity like folklore and names. Avzrog has a total population of about 300 people.
The village of Avzrog is located in the Sulaivany area in the western part of Dohuk. The Sulaivany area is situated between Sumail and the mountains south of Zakho. Avzrog is 30 km from Zakho.
It was built for the first time in 1932 when the Armenians of Zakho and its suburbs decided to establish the village and settle in it.

The village was destroyed in 1975 and the people were forced to flee. They were replaced by Arab tribes as a part of the arabization policy of Saddam Hussein’s regime. The arabisation policy was concentrated in the region of Sulaivany.

Following 1991, with northern Iraq out of control of the central regime protected by the UN and administered by a local government, the Arab tribes fled the region and went back to their original homes, mainly south of Mosul.

The Armenian inhabitants of Avzrog don't speak Armenian. They use the Kurdish language. Despite this, Armenians in Avzrog maintain their Armenian social identity like folklore and names.

Avzrog has a total population of about 300 people.

Azad sings about an Armenian

Azad Khanaqini sings "Ermenî" (Armenian)
(not the same song/lyrics as the song by Masoud Mohamadi)

The song "Ermenî" is from Azad's album "Newaî Bêston".
Azad Khanaqini was from southern Kurdistan (iraqi Kurdistan) and died from cancer.

Kurdish song by Azad Khanaqini

Masoud sings about an Armenian

Masoud Mohemmadi - "Ermenî" (Armenian)

Masoud Mohammadi was born into a Kurdish patriotic family in 1964. His place of birth was the ancient city of Qesre Shirin in Eastern Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan). Masoud was introduced to Kurdish music in his adolescence. He has developed a special relationship to Kurdish music since then. Masoud’s artistic carrier began by playing tambour and later on he also began signing in Kurdish. Masoud holds degrees in engineering and computer science, respectively. He is currently living in Denmark, Where is active role in these cultural associations. Masoud’s active role in these cultural associations has enriched his musical and artistic life, and it has also enabled him to acquire professional skills with regard to his artistic performances.

Information from: masoudmohammadi.com

Armenian Kurdish Iranian Ensemble concert in Stockholm

Valeh Music Ensemble [Iran/Kurdistan/Armenia] is a international music esemble with musicians from Armenia, Kurdistan and Iran. They will perform in Södra Teatern in Stockholm (26th October 2008).

>Order tickets here<

Valeh means "Madly In Love" and the musicians is:

• Hassan Moghaddam: Tar, Setar

• Hayk Hakobyan: Duduk, Chvi, Zurna, Clarinet, Bagpipe
  

• Moshtagh Feizyabi: Daf, Tonbak, Dayere, Dehol

• Amin Mir Shahi: Daf

Guests:

• Nadjmedin Gholami: Singer

• Aref Ebrahimpour: Kamanche

• Moa Danielson: Tabla

• Aram Martirosyan: Armenisk Duhol

Visit the official homepage of "Valeh" - Valeh.org

Armenian Genocide recognitions from the Kurdish Institute of Paris

The following articles is from the year 2006's "Institut Kurde De Paris" magazines.
Click the images to enlarger them.