Diamond Jubilee, London, pics (part 1)

 *Chocolate crown, Selfridges, London

 *Traditional British weather, Selfridges, London

*A builders tea party, Selfridges, London

 *Queuing for Britain, Selfridges, London

*Hammersmith, London

For part 2 - see Unzipped: Gay Armenia.

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