Armenian Genocide Remembrance Concert at Wigmore Hall

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Concert Thursday 12 April 2007, 7.30pm Wigmore Hall Wigmore Street London Hasmik Papian (soprano), Sergey Khachatryan (violin), Vardan Mamikonian (piano), Lusine Khachatryan (piano) Internationally acclaimed Armenian artists perform in this annual commemoration concert. 'At the side of Mr. Domingo, Hasmik Papian as Lisa has offered us one for her best performances ever, with a highly suggestive dark timbre and desperate intensity; she excelled especially in the two big arias which were of bewildering beauty' L'Opera (Milano) 'Khachatryan proves mature enough to forgo show-off stunts for the music's interior drama. The sense of focus in this performance is extraordinary' The Times Sponsored by the Benlian Trust / AGBU London

Turkish MPs To Lobby Against Armenian Genocide Bill

Turkish legislators are to travel to Washington to lobby members of the U.S. Congress against a draft resolution recognizing the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, parliamentary sources said Thursday. Three separate delegations, including members of the ruling Justice and Development Party and the main opposition Republican People's Party, will visit Washington in late February and in March to seek support against the resolution, expected to be debated at the House of Representatives in April. The Democratic-controlled Congress is widely expected to back the draft, even though the White House is opposed to it, wary over the impact on relations with a key Muslim ally and a NATO member. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said after a visit to Washington this month that passing the draft would "poison" ties and "spoil everything" between the two countries.

"Genocide Wars" (The Economist)

"A new dispute over the Armenians may sour Turkish-American relations Turkey's fraught relationship with America is heading into a new crisis. This may intensify anti-American feelings among millions of Turks. It could even hurt America's efforts to restore order in Iraq. The latest spat stems from a bill in America's Congress that would recognise the mass slaughter of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as the first genocide of the 20th century. The fate of the Armenians remains Turkey's biggest taboo. Denying the official version, which says that Armenians killed Turks in larger numbers than they were killed themselves, has landed scores of Turkish academics and writers, including a Nobel prize-winning author, Orhan Pamuk, in court. Last month, a Turkish-Armenian editor, Hrant Dink, was murdered by an ultra-nationalist teenager, who accused Mr Dink of insulting Turkey."

TIME: Armenian Genocide a historical fact

"Please be advised that, in common with other leading news organizations, it is TIME's policy and practice to refer to the Armenian genocide as a historical fact. Accordingly, I will be informing our correspondents and editors that the term 'Armenian genocide' should be used without qualification." Michael Elliott, Editor, TIME International

"Is it any wonder that the people of Darfur again face the prospect of genocide..."

"Is it any wonder that the people of Darfur again face the prospect of genocide, when the UK and US governments deny the truth of the first genocide of the twenteeth century, namely the genocide of the Armenians? Is it surprising that the world is today plagued by terrorrism, when the British and American governments persist in denying the truth of the Holocaust of the Armenians, the first example of state terrorism of the 20th century?" These questions will be raised by Armenia Solidarity at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Harrogate on the 3rd of March. Encouraged by the support given by MPs to the present Genocide Recognition Early Day Motion in the Commons (put forward by Bob Spink MP), campaigners for the genocide to be recognised officially by the UK parliament see a window of opportunity in the next few months for a motion in the Commons on Recognition to go forward for an unprecedented vote. The number of signatories on the EDM has already exceeded the total for any previous year, with 5 months still to go to the summer recess. "We know we shall be competing against many other pressing issues, but I hope people will realise that the Armenians have been waiting for justice for nearly a century. Also it is important to grasp that it is the depth of the injustice, not the strength of the lobby which should move governments to act," said a spokeman. "The plain truth is that Turkey's present borders are based on the Genocide of her Armenian population. The government denies this, and Geoff Hoon recently went as far as to deceive the Commons by implying that the government had taken the advice of historians in deciding there was not enough evidence for the Armenian Genocide. We know this to be a mischevious deception as there are no reputable historians in the UK or elsewhere who deny the truth of the Armenian Genocide. In the past week we have been given a letter from him admitting that Turkish influence on the denialist historians is a matter that should be debated. If this is so, on what grounds does he now maintain that evidence for genocide is insufficient?"

In memory of Hrant Dink - the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation

More than a million Armenians were killed in the genocide of 1915. The Turks seized great tracts of Armenian land that have never been returned. Now, Hrant Dink’s murder in Istanbul serves to remind us of this first holocaust of the Twentieth Century, even as the BBC repeatedly remarked on the “alleged mass killings” of Armenians by Turks, notwithstanding the abundant evidence of that genocide that has been presented over the years. But Mr Dink stood for a different and higher standard of journalism. When we received news of his murder, Ayse Berktay, a Turkish friend of the Russell Foundation who lives in Istanbul, put it this way: “Our dear friend Hrant Dink, one of the endorsers of the World Tribunal on Iraq, a peace and truth-loving Armenian journalist, founder and editor-in-chief of the journal AGOS, a foremost, courageous and most outspoken voice of the Armenian community in Turkey, was murdered in broad daylight in front of the journal building yesterday. He was a staunch but very human and very convincing defender of brotherhood between peoples and put his life at stake to build such genuine brotherhood because he believed that to be genuine, this brotherhood had to base itself on truth and acknowledgement of the identity and plight of one another, on getting rid of prejudices, on recognising the potential richness of the variety of cultures that exist in our land.” Hrant Dink will clearly be missed by many people in Turkey as well as in Armenia, but we should join them in honouring him ourselves As Robert Fisk has pointed out, one of the sobering lessons of the Armenian genocide is that some of those Germans who went on to perpetrate the Nazi genocide of the Jews witnessed first-hand the slaughter of 1915 in eastern Anatolia. It is vital that the whole truth is told about these events, which are still more often denied than one would think possible. That is the best tribute we can pay to Hrant Dink’s memory. Ken Coates, Tony Simpson On behalf of the Bertrand Russel Peace Foundation

Armenian Genocide Recognised at the Holocaust Memorial Day

"The only reason I can think I was spared is to help those who, like me, must live with the legacy of genocide. I represent only the survivors of the genocide in Rwanda, but try when possible to speak as well for the survivors of the Holocaust and the genocides in Cambodia, Kosovo and Armenia. I try to ensure that their voices are heard - voices that tell the whole truth, that warn us of what humanity is capable of, that remind us of the suffering that must never again be permitted to happen to anyone, anywhere in the world." - Mary Blewitt, Rwandan Survivors Fund

"The events of 1915-16 - a crime against humanity"

An important step forward to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the UK took place today. In a reply to Wales-Armenia Solidarity, Sir Menzies Campbell, Leader of the UK Liberal Democrats wrote: "We believe that the events of 1915-16 did indeed constitute crimes against humanity" thus following the moral leadership shown by the politicians of Wales,(including the Welsh Liberal Democrats) since 2001. This will have great implications for British unconditional support for Turkey's E.U. ambitions if, as expected, the Liberal Democrats hold the balance of power following the next general election in the UK. The Policy Officer of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Dewi Knight, had previously written in a reply to Wales-Armenia Solidarity: "The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that the UK government should acknowledge the Armenian experience of the early twentieth century as a genocide. The Labour government refusal to recognise it as such is, and has been, highly disappointing." Speaking at the Armenian Memorial Day service in 2001 in Cathays Park, Jenny Randerson, Welsh Lib Dem AM for Cardiff Central said: "The Armenian Genocide, which began in 1915, bore all the hallmarks of genocide and was the first such event in the 20th century. We must work together to ensure that this is fully recognised, because recognition - and commemoration - are the vital steps which ensure that it never - ever - happens again. Turkey's movements towards human rights reform is to be welcomed but there is much to do before Turkey can become a full member of the EU. It will take a long time for negotiations to allow Turkey's entry to the EU, time that Turkey should and must use to guarantee that faith minorities, ethnic minorities and other minorities have full rights at all times throughout the country. Turkey must meet the same standards as other EU states".

Washington To "Reassure" Turkey Over Armenian Genocide Bill

U.S. officials will reassure the Turkish foreign minister, currently visiting Washington, that they will try to quash a proposed resolution in Congress condemning as genocide the early 20th century killings of Armenians. In talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, U.S. officials also will discuss Turkish worries that the United States is not doing enough to prevent Kurdish rebels from operating in Northern Iraq. The meetings come at a tense moment for relations between the United States and Turkey, a moderate Muslim democracy and NATO ally crucial to U.S. operations in Iraq. President George W. Bush's administration is alarmed that the suggested congressional resolution could disrupt efforts to repair strains stemming from perceptions in Ankara that regional instability caused by the U.S.-led war in Iraq have harmed Turkish interests. The administration has opposed previous attempts by members of Congress to pass resolutions recognizing the 1915-1919 killings in Anatolia of up to 1.5 million Armenians as an organized genocide. A resolution introduced in the House of Representatives in January is thought to stand a much better chance of passing a floor vote. State Department officials say the administration will work with members of Congress to head off the resolution. "A congressional resolution would be a tremendous blow to our bilateral relationship," said U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew J. Bryza. "We are working harder than usual."