Cyprus-Forum.com

[RAFAELLA]

Turkish intellectuals issue apology to Armenians
By SUZAN FRASER

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A group of about 200 Turkish intellectuals on Monday issued an apology on the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

The group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided using the contentious term "genocide" in the apology, using the less explosive "Great Catastrophe" instead.

But the apology is a sign that many in Turkey are ready to break a long-held taboo against acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians have long pushed for the deaths to be recognized as genocide.

While Turkey does not deny that many died in that era, the country has rejected the term genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest during the Ottoman Empire's collapse.

"My conscience does not accept that (we) remain insensitive toward and deny the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected in 1915," read the apology. "I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them."

Nearly 2,500 members of the public also signed the online apology, giving their support to the intellectuals.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted after he commented on the mass killings in 2005. Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist was shot outside his Istanbul office in 2007, following his prosecution for comments he made about the killings of Armenians.

Turkish nationalists have criticized the online apology and on Monday a group of some 60 retired Turkish diplomats described the move "as unfair, wrong and unfavorable to national interests."

"Such an incorrect and one-sided attempt would mean disrespecting our history," the diplomats said.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action Party said: "No one has the right to insult our ancestors, to present them as criminals and to ask for an apology."

By late Monday, there were no public threats of legal action over the petition.

The apology comes at a time when Turkey and Armenia have taken steps toward repairing ties. The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan's claims to the disputed region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is located within Azerbaijan's borders.

In September, however, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian watched their countries' football teams play a World Cup qualifying match.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD953AJBG1

Site:
http://www.ozurdiliyoruz.com/

[Kikapu]

I have a very good Turkish friend who does not deny the killings of the Armenians by the Turks in 1915, but does not want to use the word Genocide, because he claims that, since the word Genocide did not exist in the dictionary in 1915 but was only used after WWII, then the word Genocide cannot be used in what happened in 1915.!

"The term 'Genocide' was coined by a jurist named Raphael Lemkin in 1944 by combining the Greek word 'genos' (race) with the Latin word 'cide' (killing). Genocide as defined by the United Nations in 1948 means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including: (a) killing members of the group (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part (d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistor ... index.html

[CBBB]

I know that there are normally rules governing legislation not being retroactive, but not sure that this can be applied to words (or phrases) being used retroactively.

"A rose is a rose by any other name" also comes to mind.

[Cem]

Turkish intellectuals issue apology to Armenians
By SUZAN FRASER

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A group of about 200 Turkish intellectuals on Monday issued an apology on the Internet for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

The group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided using the contentious term "genocide" in the apology, using the less explosive "Great Catastrophe" instead.

But the apology is a sign that many in Turkey are ready to break a long-held taboo against acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians have long pushed for the deaths to be recognized as genocide.

While Turkey does not deny that many died in that era, the country has rejected the term genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest during the Ottoman Empire's collapse.

"My conscience does not accept that (we) remain insensitive toward and deny the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected in 1915," read the apology. "I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them."

Nearly 2,500 members of the public also signed the online apology, giving their support to the intellectuals.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted after he commented on the mass killings in 2005. Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist was shot outside his Istanbul office in 2007, following his prosecution for comments he made about the killings of Armenians.

Turkish nationalists have criticized the online apology and on Monday a group of some 60 retired Turkish diplomats described the move "as unfair, wrong and unfavorable to national interests."

"Such an incorrect and one-sided attempt would mean disrespecting our history," the diplomats said.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action Party said: "No one has the right to insult our ancestors, to present them as criminals and to ask for an apology."

By late Monday, there were no public threats of legal action over the petition.

The apology comes at a time when Turkey and Armenia have taken steps toward repairing ties. The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia's occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan's claims to the disputed region, which has a high number of ethnic Armenian residents but is located within Azerbaijan's borders.

In September, however, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian watched their countries' football teams play a World Cup qualifying match.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD953AJBG1

Site:
http://www.ozurdiliyoruz.com/

As of today, the number of this petition signers exceeded 10.000.

It does not matter when the term genocide was coined with Raphael Lempkin as the events in 1915 makes this no less genocide.

Devlet Bahceli is a well known idiot and a replica fascist. His organization (MHP) is famous for most of the bullying that minorities have gone through.

Armenian Genocide did happen unfortunately. A sad chapter in the history of Ottoman empire in its last days.

[-mikkie2-]

Armenian genocide did happen as well as the less publicised genocide of the Greeks of Pontus, although not to the scale of the Armenians. I wonder if this will also be acknowledged at some point. It wasn't just the Armenians that suffered at that time.

[Viewpoint]

Bloody backstabbers.

[DT.]

Bloody backstabbers.

you're such a stereotypical bigot.

[Get Real!]

Bloody backstabbers.

The walls are closing in on you VP and I suspect it's going to get worse because Obama will reopen this issue...

[Viewpoint]

Bloody backstabbers.

The walls are closing in on you VP and I suspect it's going to get worse because Obama will reopen this issue...

lets see if he has the balls, once his advisers give him the full story of how it will effect their relations with turkey and this part of the world Obama will back peddle and leave this thorny issue on the shelf and in the dark for a good many years.

[kafenes]

Does this apology now officially make Ataturk a war criminal?