Text-book hypocrisy: Armenia hosts Council of Europe conference on combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe

UPDATE on Unzipped: Gay Armenia: P.S. The action. Photo, video, media reports: Armenia human rights activists protest and enter CoE conference in Yerevan exposing ruling regime’s hypocrisy
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On Monday Armenia hosts Council of Europe conference on "Combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe".

Just to remind that racism and ‘blood purity‘ are part of the ideology of ruling Republican party.

Earlier foreign minister Nalbandyan “told the Assembly that the Armenian Chairmanship is supporting the No Hate speech Movement” (source). What? Supporting "no hate speech movement"?! Needless to say that Armenia has no hate speech or hate crime legislation. It's all words. One face for the outside world, the very different one - for internal consumption.

In reality, high level Armenian officials condone anti-gay attacks, stir-up nationalism, intolerance, hate speech, xenophobia and racism.

This legal vacuum was clearly illustrated in May 2012 with the attack on gay-friendly bar DIY. This fuelled a rise in violence against the LGBT community, including by high profile politicians from the ruling Republican party, as well as church representatives and local media, which frequently relay messages of homophobic impunity (Yes to domestic violence and Yes to attacking gays).

The notion of diversity was once again attacked few days later, when neo-nazi elements attacked Diversity march to mark United Nation’s World Day of Cultural Diversity. They were encouraged by endorsement of homophobic hysteria and anti-gay violence on a very high state level that followed firebombing of DIY bar.

Other examples? Repeated attempts to hold Azeri film festival in Armenia sparked hatred and xenophobia, with direct physical attacks and abundance of hate speech.

More examples? More recent ones? In abundance.

Here is perhaps the most outrageously bizarre one. Deputy sports/youth minister of Armenia, neo-nazi Asryan claimed that opposition MP Zaruhi Postanjian should be burnt alive (!) for her CoE question. And... nothing. Still holds his position. No criminal proceeding. No challenge from the human rights ombudsman. No nothing. You would think that MPs from ruling party of the Council of Europe chairmanship country would retract the insults, reprimand their colleague at the very least? Nope. Pro-Government MPs Stand By Insults with more racist and xenophobic comments.

Of course, there was no challenge from the ombudsman because he himself was busy flirting with neo-nazi. Armenia human rights ombudsman targets trans sex workers and cites neo-nazi website as a basis for his statement.

More? There have been direct threats on Armenian Facebook to attack women rights and activists as part of 'gender equality' law hysteria. And the very latest demonstration of hatred by groups linked to certain elements within the ruling regime and Russia. A demonstration headed by high level priests against the law on gender equality and against human rights of LGBT people. This instantly reminded of ‘taburetka syndrom’ observed in Tbilisi earlier this year.

*picture - as shared on FB

The above are only few examples. This list can go on and on.

Before hosting such forums, first and foremost Armenia authorities must ensure in-house their determination and actions - not words or signatures, but real life actions - to combat intolerance, hate speech, xenophobia and racism. Right now, Armenia is not necessarily an oasis of tolerance in the region. It could have been. But it's not.

What we are witnessing with hosting such conference is a text-book example of hypocrisy.

So when you read headlines about this conference hosted by Armenia authorities, repeat after me: hypocrisy.

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Group of human rights activists intend to hold a protest action in front of the conference venue on Monday, exposing hypocrisy of the ruling regime in Armenia.

FB event (AM): Հոկտեմբերի 21-22ը Երևանի Մարիոթ Արմենիա հյուրանոցում տեղի կունենա "Պայքար Եվրոպայում խտրականության, այլատյացության և անհանդուրժողականության դեմ" միջազգային խորհրդաժողով: Նույն օրը առավոտյան 10:15-ին Մարիոթ Արմենիա հյուրանոցի դիմաց վերոնշյալ խնդրով մտահոգ Հայաստանի ակտիվ քաղաքացինները իրենց բողոքի ձայնը կբարձրացնեն Հայաստնում իշխանությունների կողմից իրականացվող խտրականության, այլատյացության և անհանդուրժողականության դեմ:

Adana 100

(Press release) The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute organizes an international conference on April 20-21, 2009 dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the Armenian massacres in Adana district of the Ottoman Empire.

Historians from Armenia, Italy, Hungary, Austria, France, USA and Sweden specialized on these issues will make speeches at the conference.

The speakers will have the opportunity to present their papers and share their knowledge about the massacre in Adana district and in the city of Adana itself in spring 1909 in the main reverting on the motives of massacres as well as international responses.

In 1908, the Young Turkish revolution brought some hope for change for the Empire’s Christian minorities. However, the initial euphoria and hopes for equal rights for Muslims and Christians were dashed in brutal slaughtering of Armenian population in Cilicia and its center Adana. This massacre revived the fears of Christian minorities, particularly of Armenians towards the traditional Ottoman policy against them.

The Adana massacres of April 1909 became a symbolic prelude for the state orchestrated and executed policy of genocide against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Ethnical cleansings and large-scale massacres were carried out even earlier; during the Hamidian massacres in 1894-1896 about 300.000 Armenians were annihilated and evicted.

The study of Adana massacre reveals several important issues, particularly in terms of crime investigation, reparation and involvement of Turkish regular army in the massacre. These tragic events resonated with the events of the earlier attacks on the Armenians and brought back the feeling of the coming catastrophe.

The Adana massacres heralded a large-scale extermination policy, which was implemented shortly after the breakout of the WWI. This resulted in the genocide of Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during 1915-1922, and expulsion of several hundred thousand people from their homeland.

Armenian Genocide Museum & Institute

2nd Hrant Dink conference in Turkey

Bianet reports that on 16 January Bosphorus University will host its 2nd Hrant Dink Human Rights and Freedom of Expression Conference. The conference is held in memory of Turkish-Armenian journalist, editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in Istanbul on 19 January 2007.

Prominent British human rights lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman, chair of the British Institute of Human Rights, will speak on “Freedom of Expression: A Universal Right”.

Bindman was born in 1933 and has been a lawyer in London since 1960. Bindman was legal adviser to the Race Relations Board (1966-73). He then spent ten years as legal adviser to the Commission for Racial Equality until 1983.

Bindman is the author of many articles in the legal profession's journals and in the national press. He has broadcast frequently on his specialist topics. He has represented the ICJ, IBA, Amnesty International and other bodies in human rights missions overseas.

He has received several human rights awards and is a visiting lecturer at University College London and London South Bank University.

Djulfa (Jugha) destruction: 3rd anniversary of cultural vandalism, conference in Baku, and failed boycott by Armenia’s Ministry of Culture

3 years ago the Armenian medieval cemetery in the region of Nakhichevan (Azerbaijan) was destroyed and subsequently converted into a “military shooting range”.

On December 15th, 2005, Russia’s Regnum News Agency was the first international outlet to quote reports of approximately ‘100 Azerbaijani servicemen … crush[ing] Armenian graves and crosses ….’ An Armenian film crew in northern Iran, where the cemetery was visible from, had videotaped dozens of men in uniforms in the Azerbaijani border hacking the khachkars down with sledgehammers, using a crane to remove some of the largest monuments from the ground, breaking the stones into small pieces, and dumping them into the River Araxes by a large truck. The destruction, which also amounted to desecration of Armenian remains beneath the stones, had reportedly started on December 14th and lasted for a few days giving the world media enough time to report it as it was happening. But it was not until April 2006 when Azeri journalists from the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting confirmed that the cemetery had vanished. The Times reflected on April 21st, ‘[a] medieval cemetery regarded as one of the wonders of the Caucasus has been erased from the Earth in an act of cultural vandalism likened to the Taleban blowing up the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan in 2001.’ (The Djulfa Virtual Memorial and Museum)

Ironically, earlier this month Azerbaijan hosted a European conference on intercultural dialogue organised by the Council of Europe. It is questionable, to say the least, whether Baku could be considered as an appropriate place for a conference to follow-up Europe-wide "White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue", as Azeri authorities did nothing to prevent or restore vandalised remains of numerous instances of Armenian cultural heritage there.

On the other hand, the Armenian Ministry of Culture failed to deliver a message by boycotting the conference. They either should have properly boycotted the conference by making an appropriate statement explaining the reasons for non-participation, or they should have participated there to raise the all important issues of destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan, as well as protecting and restoring the multinational cultural heritage in all three South Caucasus countries. Instead, Ministry of Culture’s response was something like we did not participate because... “it was decided not to participate”. That’s all...

1970s

April 2006

*photos - via IWPR - Azerbaijan: Famous Medieval Cemetery Vanishes (Jugha Cemetery (13th-16th centuries). Photographs from 1970s and 2006.)

Meetings on Armenian Genocide in London

Organised by Armenian Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides; Centre of Halabja against the Anfalization of Kurdish People (C.H.A.K.); Nor Serount Cultural Association; Seyfo Centre

"Evidence from Kurdish sources on the 1915 Genocide"

On Tuesday, 8th July at 2.00 p.m.

in Room P of Portcullis House (which houses the offices of Members of Parliament); Portcullis House is on Victoria Embankment/Bridge Street corner next to Westminster tube station(facing parliament)
The speakers: eminent Kurdish historian Prof Kamal Mazhar Ahmad; Kurdish writer Rebwar Fatah .
The meeting is sponsored and chaired by David Drew MP

The Lausanne Treaty of 1923.
Were the Armenians , Assyrians and Kurds betrayed?

On Wednesday, 9th July at 6.15 p.m.

in Room 3A of the House of Lords
Speakers: Dr Kemal Miredali ( Kurdish writer); Ms Soma Mallzada (Researcher for C.H.A.K.) The meeting is sponsored and chaired by Lord Rea.
There will be the opportunity for questions and a discussion to consider the Treaty's validity in relation to these three nations which were not involved in its signing.

If you are planning to attend, RSVP if possible to eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk asap

Queen's state visit to Turkey: "a seal of approval"?

BBC reports that "The Queen and Prince Philip are travelling to Turkey for a four-day state visit, their first to the country since 1971. During the trip, they will lay a wreath at the tomb of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey. They will also be guests at a state banquet hosted by President Abdullah Gul and his wife Hayrunnisa. [...] Later in the trip, they will visit the western city of Bursa and will tour a school in Istanbul which has links with UK students. The royal visit highlights the importance of Britain's relationship with Turkey. Britain is a strong supporter of Turkey's attempts to join the EU. The country became an official candidate in 1999 and entered formal accession negotiations in 2005. "

One of the questions addressed at The Armenian Genocide Day Conference, held in the House of Commons, the UK Houses of Parliament, 24th April 2008, was the following:

• Will the planned state visit by HM the Queen to Turkey in May be a seal of approval on the Turkish government's distortion of the truth of the genocide, and the continuing cultural genocide in Turkey?

Below is an excerpt from the paper “The Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and 'Other' Genocides: The Politics of Genocide Recognition and Denialism” - by Desmond Fernandes, author of The Kurdish and Armenian Genocides: From Censorship and Denial to Recognition? (Apec Press, Stockholm, 2007) - presented at the Conference:

If we ask ourselves the question:

Will the planned state visit by HM the Queen to Turkey in May be a seal of approval on the Turkish government's distortion of the truth of the genocide, and the continuing cultural genocide in Turkey?

It very much will, in my opinion, depend upon the nature of the visit, and the statements and endorsements that will accompany that visit (relating to what is said or unsaid concerning the Turkish state's ongoing and past genocidal record, and its and the UK government's continuing Armenian/Assyrian/Greek/Kurdish genocide denialist position). The Queen and those in her entourage and the UK government should also reflect upon the Turkish Human Rights Association's observations on Armenian Genocide Recognition day in 2006, which remain relevant today:

"Turkey has made hardly any progress in the field of co-existence, democracy, human rights and putting an end to militarism since the time of the Union and Progress Committee. Annihilation and denial had been, and continues today, to be the only means to solve the problem ... Today’s ongoing military build up of some 250,000 troops in the [Kurdish] southeast of Turkey is the proof of a mindset wh[ich] is unable to develop any solution to the Kurdish question other than armed suppression."

*photo - via BBC

Armenian Genocide Commemorative Events in London

There are number of events planned in London to commemorate 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. (For details of other events, see here)


Thursday 24 April 2008

Armenian Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides (ASVAG) and Nor Serount Cultural Association, supported by The Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East; The European NGO: "Working Group Recognition - Against Genocide, for International Understanding"; The Seyfo Centre; The Aegis Trust and The Genocide Prevention All-Party Parliamentary Group

invite you to an

24th April ( Genocide Day) Conference

Sponsored and chaired by Andrew George M.P.
in The Grand Committee Room of the House of Commons, London
on Thursday, 24th April (Armenian Genocide Day) at 11 a.m. till 1.00 p.m.

The following questions will be addressed:

• Is Reconciliation possible after Genocide?
• Is denial of truth any basis for Reconciliation?
• Taking the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek and Kurdish examples: Does the UK government hinder the process of reconciliation by its one-sided pro-Turkish government stance?
• Will the planned state visit by HM the Queen to Turkey in May be a seal of approval on the Turkish government's distortion of the truth of the genocide, and the continuing cultural genocide in Turkey?
  

Presentations:
“The Psychological Effects of Genocide Denial” - By Ruth Barnett
“The Comparative Aftermath of the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide” - By Gregory Topalian
“The Assyrian/Armenian Perspective” - By Sabri Atman, The Seyfo Centre, Amsterdam
“Perspectives on Genocide” - By Kasim Agpak
“The Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and 'Other' Genocides: The Politics of Genocide Recognition and Denialism” - By Desmond Fernandes
“A bird's-eye-view on the phenomena of Genocide and the Armenian Experience of it” - Professor Khatchatur I. Pilikian.


Thursday 24 April 2008 at 7.00pm
Silent Vigil

Turkish embassy, 43 Belgrave Square, London SWIX 8PA

Organised by the Armenian National Committee (ACN) of the UK


Sunday 27 April 2008
Annual Commemorative March
Starting at 13:00 following the Requiem Service
at St. Yeghiche Church

Cranley Gardens, South Kensington,
London SW7

Organised by CRAG - Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide

Commemorative March - from St Yeghiche Church to The Cenotaph via the Turkish Embassy and Parliament Square

Prayers will be said at the Cenotaph and a Petition on behalf of the British Armenian Community will be handed at 10 Downing Street for the attention of Prime Minister Gordon Brown