Armenian Genocide themed film at Kurdish Film Festival in London

21 November 2009, Birkbeck Cinema, London
AZAD
Director: Nicolas Tackian
France / 2009 / 60mins/ French with English Subtitles / PG
Cast: Jacques HERLIN, Virgile BRAMLY, Alexandra BIENVENU, Jacky NERCESSIAN, Anne SUAREZ

6th London Kurdish Film Festival takes place 20-30 November at various venues in London. Within the programme of the festival, there is also this new (2009) award winning Armenian Genocide themed film “Azad” (made in France; written and directed by Nicolas Tackian). It will be shown at the Birkbeck Cinema this Saturday 21 November at 3pm.
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Mayak is a young Armenian man and part of the underground cartoon world. He dedicates himself to creating a graphic novel: 'Azad' (which means freedom both in Armenian and Kurdish), a project that looks back to 1915 when his grandfather tried to escape the Armenian genocide. He puts together this project by listening to his grandfather’s memories and it becomes a chance for him to get back in touch with his roots and build a better relationship with his family. However when Mina, a young Kurdish girl enters his life, he is forced to question his beliefs. Mayak convinces himself that she is denying the memory of the Armenian people and accusing the Kurds for also taking part in the Armenian genocide. This leads to a crisis of identity. (LKFF)
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Named for the Armenian term for liberty, ‘Azad’ concerns a grandfather’s recollection of the genocide of 1915 to his illustrator grandson, Mayak. Set in Paris, it manages to be light-hearted, yet sombre, dealing with Mayak’s discovery of his roots and reconnection with his family. However, when Mina, a Kurdish woman moves in, Mayak is forced to question his own identity. (by Sabrina Bangladesh, Time Out London)

Hrant Dink Day in London

2nd anniversary of Hrant Dink's assassination

Vigil outside the Turkish Embassy
Belgrave Square , London SW1x 8PA
from 1.00 p.m.- 2 p.m.
"Turkey face your past, respect your Minorities!"

Meeting in Committee Room 6 of the House of Commons
at 6.00 p.m. on

The cultural rights of the minorities of Turkey

Speakers:
Des Fernandes (Author of The Kurdish and Armenian Genocides, Apec 2008)
(and others tbc)

Maral Dink, niece of Hrant, will participate too.

Organisers: Armenian Solidarity with the Victims of All Genocides, Nor Serount Cultural Association, Centre of Halabja (CHAK), Seyfo Centre

Scandal in Turkish army: Turkish air force chief attacked for directing anti-PKK operation from golf course

For decades Turkey's armed forces have been virtually beyond criticism in a country where the military sees itself as a defender of the modern secular state.

But its status is being questioned after a senior commander was pictured playing golf hours after 17 soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish militants.

General Aydogan Babaoglu, head of the air force, took part in a golf tournament in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya last weekend after reports emerged of a deadly attack on a military outpost in Aktutun, near Turkey's border with Iraq, by the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK).

He later claimed to have coordinated, the military's response from the golf course, which included air strikes against PKK bases in northern Iraq and ground manoeuvres inside Turkey. But he only returned to headquarters in the capital, Ankara, on Saturday evening, when the country was deep in mourning. More...

*source: The Guardian; photo - by Today's Zaman, via NEWSru.com

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