LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN OF CRAG
TO DR DENIS MacSHANE, MP, MINISTER OF STATE FOR EUROPE
IN RESPONSE TO STATEMENT HE MADE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
Dr Denis MacShane, MP
Minister of State for Europe
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
14 October 2004 Dear Dr Denis MacShane: In an Oral Answer to a Question by Mr Angus Robertson, SNP Member for Moray, during the Debate of 12 October 2004 on Turkey, the following
exchange was reported in Hansard: Angus Robertson (Moray) (SNP): I welcome the decision on Turkey, and I also agree with the comments made so far about Kurds. I would also
highlight the situation of Armenians in Turkey and of Armenia itself. Will the Minister encourage Turkey to improve Armenian relations, including making progress on resolving outstanding historical
differences? Mr. MacShane: I am a Foreign Office Minister, not an historian, and there are times when history should be left to history. Turkey wants to look to a better
future in the European Union and that will require it - as it requires of all member states - to look with tolerance and sensitivity at some of the problems of the past. Sometimes the past is best dealt with
by ceasing to rake it up incessantly. CRAG< the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, part of the Armenian Community and Church Council of Great Britain, are deeply
dismayed let alone affronted by your summary response. On the one hand, we are dismayed by the persistently standard response given by our politicians (such as yours in the House only two
days ago) when addressing the Armenian Genocide. The gist of most replies is that 'history should be left to historians' in deciding on the veracity or otherwise of this tragic episode. On
the other hand, we also feel affronted that you would suggest that the past history of the Armenian people in Ottoman Turkey 'is best dealt with by ceasing to rake it up incessantly'. For the
first part, many noted and well-established British historians have often stated¸ and written, that the Armenian chapter during WWI qualified as genocide according to historical and legal benchmarks. For the
other part, I wonder if you would advise a Jew, Rwandan, Bosnian or other peoples and minorities that the raw wounds of their ethno-religious suffering should be shelved because there was no point really in
raising it all the time. In order to underline the academic history let alone human reality of the Armenian Genocide, allow me to enclose herewith a booklet that includes a whole series of
quotations - not least from a number of distinguished British politicians, historians and authors - emphasising the genocidal nature of the Armenian experience. Post-9/11, and following the
traumas of the world in different parts from Afghanistan to Iraq, I wonder if it is not high time to show tolerance, sensitivity and integrity when dealing with the Armenian Genocide – not least when we in
the West are leading the war against terror let alone considering Turkey as a future EU member-state. Otherwise, if 'history should be left to history', why are we digging up the mass graves in Iraq? Very Truly Yours
Raffi Sarkissian
Chair, CRAG =========================================================================================
REVIEW OF "THE BURNING TIGRIS" BY ANDREW MANGO We have placed in a separate section on this website the recent
review by Andrew Mango in the Times Literary Supplement of Peter Balakian's "The Burning Tigris".
This article entitled " The Definition" appeared on p13 of the TLS for the week of 17 September 2004.
Perhaps those of you versed in the subject academically, historically or experientially would choose to send a Letter to the Editor at the TLS on letters@the-tls.co.uk
CRAG will respond to this article in an Armenian institutional sense, but would it not be more effective if others did too? And allow me to add that a weighted reply
from any authority does not mean rubbishing everything in the review itself (since there are cogent points) but rather highlighting the issues (provocation, inequality of parties, etc) that you might deem
inappropriate.
We are ready to post your letters on the CRAG and ACCC sites - but only with your express permission.
CLICK THIS LINK TO READ REVIEW AND REPLIES=============================================================================== The Honourable Colin Powell
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520 10 September 2004
Dear Secretary Powell: The world listened with urgent interest to your statement at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on 9
September 2004 in which you concluded for the first time that 'genocide has been committed in Darfur' as a result of the killings, rapes and destruction of homes in the region of western Sudan that have
forced 1.5 million people to date from their homes. We understand that you based your conclusion to define the conflict in Darfur as 'genocide' on a State Department report by officials who
interviewed 1,136 Darfurian refugees in Chad over a five-week period. The said report revealed a 'consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities committed against non-Arab villagers.' You equally
acknowledged the international dimension of this conflict when you underlined the responsibilities that arise from such a definition under the Geneva Conventions on the prevention of genocide. Like so many
other international non-governmental, charitable and church-related organisations, we applaud this departure in US official policy. We believe that State Parties to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide are now under an obligation to 'undertake to prevent and punish' genocide and that this definition would also allow them to invoke Article 8 of the Convention whereby any
Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United Nations to take such action under the UN Charter. However, Mr Secretary of State, allow us also to transpose the very facts
of the terrible conflict in Darfur with what happened to the Armenian Turkish citizens in Ottoman Turkey during World War I. Just as in Sudan against the Darfurians today, there was also an
'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group' by Ottoman Turkey against its own Armenian citizens [Art 2, UN Convention of 1948]. Numerous legal
scholars, as well as historians, church missionaries and writers, have acknowledged that the same fate - and much more - befell Armenians in 1915. In fact, the murders, rapes, destructions, displacement and
rampages that have been occurring in Darfur in recent months also occurred against Armenians in Ottoman Turkey until 1923. Furthermore, many politicians and parliamentarians across the world
have recognised this tragedy as genocide. After all, no less an authority than Henry Morgenthau, US Ambassador to Ottoman Turkey between 1913 and 1916, substantiated the mass murder of over one million
Armenians, and his first-hand witness account of the events that engulfed Armenians at the time is one of many indictments against the Ottoman leaders. Yet, despite many attempts to have
successive US Administrations pronounce the 'G word', Armenians have so long been stonewalled with uncompromising silence by the leading democracies of the world - namely the USA and the UK. Darfurians
today, Tutsis 10 years ago, and Armenians 89 years ago: these are three tragic examples amongst many others, and we simply wonder why the yardsticks and criteria can shift so radically or easily when the
facts themselves do not. Surely, honesty, ethics and a belief in a general good still prevail as guiding lodestars of the US Administration? Sincerely yours
Raffi Sarkissian
Chair ========================================================================================Mr Adrian Hamilton
Editorial & Opinion Page
The Independent
a.hamilton@independent.co.uk10 September 2004
Dear Mr Hamilton: I refer to your article Europe must not reject Turkey now
that appeared on page 41 of The Independent on 9 September 2004. Much as I appreciate the points you raise in your editorial, I fail to understand the eagerness with which you [and some other journalists] advocate Turkey's membership to the EU.
I agree that there are different [and at times embarrassingly negative or misdirected] emotions coursing through the Western world these days about Islam in general and about Turkish
membership in particular. But leaving Beslan or the laws on adultery out of the frame, just as you do, I believe there are other fundamentally deeper issues.
Why Turkey, and not Russia or the Ukraine? Even if the principle of accession is acknowledged per se in a Eurocentric sense (and there is an ongoing debate about that too), the simple fact remains
that Turkey has not fulfilled the five requirements of the Copenhagen criteria. Is that not the litmus test that the EU ought to apply when examining Turkey's membership? I truly hope that our
propensity to show broad-mindedness and openness, especially when historical and factual realities fail to consolidate the argument in favour of accession today, will not come in the way of what is good for
Europeans and for the EU vision in 2004. Are we ready to push forward the structural (in the non-ideological sense) creation of a Soviet prototype bloc that would then either implode, burst
at the seams or collapse due to inherently internal contradictions of such a motley body? Or are we perhaps trying to beef up the EU with our 'allies' as we devise the way forward?
I enclose herewith a three-page article entitled Dreaming West & Moving East? authored by Dr Harry Hagopian that focuses on those issues and then also adds an Armenian perspective to the much
larger pan-European debate. With kind regards
Raffi Sarkissian
Chair ==============================================================================
APRIL 24
PROTEST MARCH ORGANISED BY CRAG LONDON'S BUSY WEST END BROUGHT TO A STANDSTILL
WHITEHALL, WESTMINSTER - LONDON
==============================================================================
House of Commons
- New Motion Submitted -
Jeremy Corbyn, Islington North Labour MP, sumbitted a new Early Day Motion (EDM)
entitled 'ARMENIA' on 30 April 2004.
The EDM states:
"That this House recognises that the
extermination of over a million Armenians in
1915 was an act of genocide; calls upon Her
Majesty's Government to recognise it as such
and for the government of Turkey to do the
same; and expresses its condolences
to the descendants of those who were so
brutally murdered at that time."
To date, this EDM has garnered 43 signatures from different MP's. Many more signatures from other MP's
are necessary to make any noticeable difference.
SO PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR MP NOW TO SUPPORT THIS MOTION
CLICK HERE TO READ TEXT TO YOUR MP AS PROPOSED BY CRAG
Feel free to change or personalise the letter, but send it as soon as possible. Thanks! =============================================================================
THE ARMENIAN HOLOCAUST
COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS ORGANIZED BY CRAG
24 APRIL 2004
= Armenian Genocide Commemorative Evening - 23 April 2004
=
Commemorative March, Laying of Wreath and Presentation of
Petition to Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street
CLICK ON THE LINKS TO READ FULL DETAILS
OF THE EVENTS
================================================== In the context of its commemorative events for the 89th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, CRAG
sponsored also a
Petition Signing Day on Prince's Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 8 May 2004. The petition read:
WE THE UNDERSIGNED ASK FOR THE RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OF 1915 WHICH WAS
COMMITTED BY OTTOMAN TURKEY DURING WORLD WAR ONE
The event was coordinated by Dr Hagop Bessos, CRAG liaison in Scotland, alongside many other helpful colleagues.
The day event went on despite some downpours, and included a banner on Scottish-Armenian solidarity and
photos of the genocide of 1915.
This petition, once it has collected some more signatures, will be submitted by CRAG and an Armenian Scottish
delegation to Donald Anderson, Leader of Edinburgh City Council.
It is hoped that a campaign lobby in Edinburgh, resting place of Lord Bryce, might follow the recent recognition by
Gwynedd County Council in Wales of the Armenian Genocide.
=================================================="Great Britain's Denial of the Genocide against the Armenians"
- The 1999 declaration, the "blue book", and some implications -
This text is an extract from the chapter
" 'Reconciliation' Without the Truth. Game Over for Turkish Denial of the Genocide of the Armenians", in: Danieli, Y. & Niyibizi, B (Eds).
Life After Death: Rebuilding Genocide Survivors' Lives: Challenges and Opportunities.
The author, Rupen Boyadjian, was a member of the board of Association Switzerland-Armenia (1995-2001), and still heads its group for legal issues in regard to genocide denial.
CRAG is happy to refer its readers to this pdf document as another example toward further consolidation of the Armenian Genocide in view of all denialist attitudes. TO READ THE EXTRACT IN .PDF FORMAT
PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK ==============================================================
On Tuesday 3rd of February, 2004, CRAG Commemorated the Armenian Genocide and all acts of genocide worldwide as part of the UK-based Holocaust Memorial Day 2004
For full details of the ceremony and Church Service, please click here to link ,
or go to CRAG FUNCTIONS page
=============================================================== Genocide and Minorities,
Preventing the Preventable
CRAG has great pleasure of introducing this advocacy briefing, Genocide and Minorities, Preventing the Preventable, by John
Packer and Erik Friberg, that was launched by the UK-based Minority Rights Group International on 15 April 2004 at the United Nations Office, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
It is estimated that 70% of violent conflicts in the world are ethnic or religious conflicts. Research has linked the incidence of
ethnic conflict to violations of minority rights. In this briefing, an assessment is made of the key issues around minorities,
genocide and other forms of violent conflict, and the threats such conflicts pose to global peace and security. It makes a
number of concrete recommendations to improve UN action to prevent violent conflict involving minorities, including genocide.
The briefing builds on some of the proposals made by other actors in the field, including the proposals made by the UN Secretary-General at the Stockholm conference,
Preventing Genocide: Threats and Responsibilities, in January 2004.
Starting with the first holocaust of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide, and continuing through the unspeakable
horrors that range from the Jewish Holocaust till Rwanda ten years ago, the world today is also being challenged by the atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Never again
is a mantra by the world community that has acquired a hollow ring to it. Many genocidal acts will have possibly
been prevented if the world had acted with less cowardice or expediency during the unfurling of the Armenian Genocide.
It is hoped that this constructive MRG briefing will pave the way toward a more responsible approach to conflict-prevention - including genocide.
TO READ THE BRIEFING OF THE MRG PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO OPEN IN .PDF FORMAT
===========================================
* County recognises 'genocide' *
Gwynedd Council is the first local authority in Wales to recognise
killings of Armenians during World War I as Genocide. CLICK THIS LINK TO GO BBCi RELEVANT NEWS ITEM
<
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/wales/north_west/3532741.stm >
=========================================================================5 March 2004
!! NEWS ALERT !!
GWYNEDD COUNTY COUNCIL PASSES
PRECEDENT-SETTING MOTION RECOGNISING
THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
CRAG EXPRESSES ITS APPRECIATION TO THE GWYNEDD COUNTY COUNCIL FOR ITS AVANT-GARDE MOTION, AND CONGRATULATES WALES-ARMENIA SOLIDARITY FOR ITS TIRELESS EFFORTS
CRAG joins today many other Armenian and non-Armenian organisation in the UK, Europe and worldwide
in expressing its deep satisfaction at a precedent-setting event that took place in Wales on 4 March 2004.
For the first time in the UK, a County Council passed a Motion that recognises the Armenian Genocide and calls upon Turkey to end its crippling economic blockade of Armenia.
FOR MORE DETAILS FROM WALES-ARMENIA SOLIDARITY ...
On Thursday, 4 March 2004, in response to requests from Wales -Armenia Solidarity, Dafydd Iwan,
President of the Plaid Cymru Party, put forward a Motion at the Gwynedd County Council. This Motion (as outlined hereunder) received overwhelming favourable support - with cross-party support from The Labour
Party, the Liberal Democrats, Independent Wales Party, Councillors of the Independent group, as well as the majority Plaid Cymru Councillors.
The Press Release issued by Wales-Armenian Solidarity also reminded that, upon the initiative of Wales-Armenia Solidarity and with full support from CRAG, the majority of the Members of the National
Assembly of Wales had also signed a similar Declaration of Opinion on 30 October 2002.
The press release added that Wales' Prime Minister Rhodri Morgan recognised the genocide in a personal
capacity at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff on 24 April 2001. This, however, is the first time that any elected body in Wales or the UK has voted to recognise the truth of the Genocide.
A trigger mechanism would allow this Motion, as approved by Gwynedd County Council, to be circulated to all local authorities in Wales for their support and signature.
'Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh serve as inspirations for all small nations who have previously been
silenced, and it is the sacred duty of nations like Wales to make their voice heard on these issues", said a
spokesperson for Wales-Armenia Solidarity. It added, "We hope that this will result in the re-emergence of
a bond of friendship between our two nations. [A Wales-Armenia Society existed in 1896]. We hope to establish a cultural exchange in the future.'
Commenting on this significant development, and the success of the Motion, Raffi Sarkissian, from the CRAG Board, stressed that 'this Motion is a memorable achievement in the field of human rights, and it is
the hope of CRAG that the British Government will follow suit and recognise also the truth of the Armenian Genocide as have done many British politicians, historians and writers in the past.'
The Motion:
"Gwynedd Council:
1
Recognises the truth of the Genocide of the Armenians that occurred under the Turkish government in 1915
2
Calls on Turkey to end its economic blockade of the Republic of Armenia
3
Calls on the government of Britain and the National Assembly of Wales not to support Turkish entry into
the European Union until the Turkish government has recognised the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and has ended its economic blockade of Armenia"
4
Calls on the Local Authorities of Wales to support this declaration.========================================================================= HE Mr Dafydd Iwan
President, Plaid Cymru
County Councillor, Gwynedd
Carrog
Rhos-bach
Caethro
Caernarfon
Gwynedd LL55 2TF
5 March 2004
Dear Mr Daffyd Iwan:
Warm and collegial greetings!
On behalf of CRAG, the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, allow me to thank you for putting forward to the Gwynedd
County Council yesterday a Motion that calls upon Turkey to recognise the Armenian Genocide.
The success of that Motion, and the unanimous votes that it garnered across all parties in the County Council, is a testimony both to your
own enterprising spirit as well as to the political courage of all Councillors who chose not to veer away from the historical truth.
Given the unanimity that was secured for this Motion yesterday, it is very much our hope that all the other Local Authorities in Wales
would follow suit and either adopt their own Motions or lend their signatures to this Motion. We at CRAG remain ready to support any
such move, and to lend any assistance that you deem helpful or desirable toward this end.
With this avant-garde political achievement by Plaid Cymru, it is also our hope at CRAG that the British Government would at long last
follow suit and adhere to the testimony of its own politicians, historians, scholars and researchers who have proved time and again the
veracity of the Armenian Genocide and the undeniability of this chapter in human suffering.
We would also like to thank Wales-Armenia Solidarity, and particularly Mr Eilian Williams, for their untiring efforts in the direction of helping
enhance Welsh-Armenian relations and in striving to secure recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Thanking you once more,
Raffi Sarkissian
Chair, CRAG |
