accc.org.uk

ACTION ALERT 1: PETITION TO PARLIAMENT FOR RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BEING COLLECTED BY
            THE COMMUNITY'S COMMITTEE FOR COMMEMORATION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENOCIDE
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           CLICK HERE TO READ
    
REGULAR COMMUNICATIONS
           
RECEIVED  FROM THE
         
MOTHER SEE OF HOLY
                
ETCHMIADZIN



                 CLICK HERE TO READ
           NEWS BULLETIN OF THE
       
ARMENIAN EMBASSY IN U.K.
       
(Includes News from Armenia)


 

 
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

 

   
      TWO NEW WEBSITES:
   
   
   
PANORAMA.am
       - Armenian News Portal -

       ARMENICA.Org
 
Excellent and Highly Informative
Armenian History and General Info

 

  TERRORIST ATTACKS IN LONDON
  
Transcript of letter by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, sent to the Right Honourable Tony Blair M.P., The Prime Minister.
=  Statement from the Primate of the Armenian Church of the United Kingdom, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian
=  Statement from the Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain.
  
CLICK THIS LINK TO OPEN PAGE


 
                 
HUMOUR:
 
        
" Drive-In Take-Away"
 
(After viewing film clip please press
     browser "BACK" button to return  )

    
Operating System -
                 
Highly Technical Advice



             6th of January, 2006 
 
    ARMENIAN CHRISTMAS
  Family Luncheon Party
 Have an Enjoyable Christmas Lunch
   with Other Armenian Families at a
                   Beautiful Venue,
         Following the Church Service
                 Organised by the
        ACCC Ladies Committee
       
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS



HAMAINK
The Newsletter for the U.K. Armenian Community
 Published by the ACCC
In Service to the Community
                                                                       ISSUE No 4
OUT NOW
 CLICK THIS LINK TO READ
ONLINE IN .PDF


  HAMAINK issue No.4 was posted FREE OF CHARGE to every address registered with the ACCC
 
To participate in community life and to receive all future community communications and news and so as to become eligible to take part in elections of the ACCC Council, every Armenian living in the U.K. should register with the ACCC.      Registration is FREE.    Please  e-mail your Name, Address, Phone No. and E-mail Address to: 
REGISTRATIONS@ACCC.org.uk
                                              

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 





 
                  
JOB VACANCY
                  ___________________

    SESSIONAL DRIVER WANTED
A reliable driver required for a charitable
organisation with its own mini-bus to drive
senior citizens to  Day Centre 2 days a
week.
Suitable for a retired person with a clean
driving licence.
For further information contact:
Mr Misak Ohanian
Centre for Armenian Information & Advice
Tel: 0208 992 4621
E-mail: info@caia.org.uk



               MESSAGE FROM
 
ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY
 
"YERP KALIS E SEPTEMPERE"
   
PROJECT OF THE SOCIAL
 
SERVICES MINISTRY OF THE
    
REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA



 ARTICLES AND NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST RECEIVED WITH THANKS FROM ARMENAG TOPALIAN:


Turkey must relent - The Spectator

Armenian Government Reports Further Rise In Foreign Investment

No Karabakh Accord Announced After Armenian-Azeri Summit

Argentine Operator To Boost Investments In Yerevan Airport


AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES DECIDE TO HOLD ELECTIONS IN KARABAKH

AGBU Builds Second Karabakh Village, Dozens Prepare to Move Into Border Region

Aliev Sees Armenian Concessions After Azeri Military Buildup

Church Restoration Raises Hopes For Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation

Experts Warn Of IT Staff Shortage In Armenia

 Armenian journalist faces three years jail for "insulting Turkish identity"


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 



   About the ACCC
 and our Committees

    
 
 
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
      
90th ANNIVERSARY
 
COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

   
  
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS TO
    COMMEMORATE THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN
 GENOCIDE

The Community's Official Petition launched by the Genocide 90th Anniv. Commemoration Committee


THE HOLY ARMENIAN
 APOSTOLIC CHURCH


CHURCH NEWS
Press Releases from Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

THE ARMENIAN EMBASSY
Embassy News Bulletin


HOLY TRINITY ARMENIAN CHURCH OF MANCHESTER WEBSITE


 
UNITED KINGDOM:

Prominent Benefactor and member of U.K. Armenian Community,
Mr George Kurkjian OBE passes away



'Early Day Motion' tabled in previous Parliament (EDM642)

Professor Hovhannisian - Lecture in London

Talk given by Professor Tessa Hofann at University of London

Statement by Baroness Cox of Queensbury

Armenian Genocide and Jewish Holocaust Commemorated in Wales

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone speaks of Armenian Genocide

Archbishop Y. Gizirian visits London

Community members receive Pontifical Honours



TURKEY:

Erdogan-Hurriyet Interview:

Pastor shocks Turkish TV viewers by bold remarks on Genocide


Turkish Publisher charged for publishing book by Armenian author

Ancient Armenian Church in danger of collapse



GENOCIDE:

Turkey's Memory Lapse -
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE PLAGUES ANKARA 90YEARS ON
By Bernhard Zand
Article published in Spiegel Online


Link to "Turkish Crimes of Our Century - chronology - details

French MEP calls on Turkish Deputies to recognise Armenian Genocide
 


GENERAL:
' Lessons of Genocide: 1915, 1994 & 2005' Click this link to read an edited version of a recent academic presentation dated 25 May 2005 by Dr Harry Hagopian.  The article examines his views on many salient points in the genocide discourse.


Israel is among the holocaust deniers :  Editorial in HAARETZ By Yossi Sarid


TEN YEARS SHY OF A CENTURY!
The Armenian Genocide 1915
BY DR HARRY HAGOPIAN
 
" It is my contention today that no genocide can be unique since all genocides are reprehensible. This is why I believe it is in the Turkish national interest to come clean and recognise this genocide . . ."
" I believe Turkey cannot find inner peace so long as it denies the genocide. Nor can Armenians for that matter, which is why the souls of Armenian victims still cry out for justice today. . ."
CLICK THIS LINK TO READ ARTICLE


"WAITING FOR THE DENIAL TO END"
By Dalia Shehori
Published in HAARETZ.com



Hovanness Badalian Music Fund

GROONG - Armenian News
Extensive Collection of News Items Updated Daily




ARMENIA:

President Robert Kocharian replies to P.M. Erdogan of Turkey

1,500,000 CANDLES

Armenian Jews celebrate Purim in Yerevan

OSCE Report on Mountainous Karabagh Strikes down Azeri Allegations of Resettlement

 His Eminence Archbishop Shahé Ajemian Enters Eternal Rest
 


UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS Available to Students from Armenia


 

BOOKS

BLUE BOOK - British Parliamentary Report - New Uncensored Version


Balakian: The Burning Tigris


Galichian: Historic Maps of Armenia



U.K. -  CAIA:

ACCC Organise and Conduct CAIA AGM and Elections - Report

 

JOB VACANCIES

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         accc.org.uk 
       usage statistics:
   37946
visits in Nov. 2005
 

    CLICK HERE FOR THE
  
ARMENIAN NATIONAL     
            
ANTHEM
 

  Also visit the following ACCC Committee Websites:
  
*  CRAG.org.uk
   * 
AYCC.org.uk : Armenian Youth & Culture Committee
  

   WELCOME to our ever growing readership   
  
In November 2005 (up to 27th Nov) we had 37,946 Visitors to this website  --- HIGHEST EVER AGAIN -
   Thank you for visiting
accc.org.uk we hope it is of benefit to our community and is therefore serving its purpose.
      
THIS WEBSITE IS MAINTAINED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE ACCC AT NO COST TO THE COMMUNITY
                    PLEASE ALSO READ THE COMMUNITY's NEWSLETTER HAMAINK - see column on left of screen
                                                           Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain
                                                               



                    Chief Rabbi of Israel Visits
         Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan


                       

     The Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger arrived in Armenia on the 21st of November, 2005
     The visit is held by invitation of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, reported the press
     center of the Chancellery of Holy Echmiadzin.

     On Wednesday 22nd November, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger visited the Armenian Genocide Museum
     in Yerevan and later attended the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial for the victims of the Armenian Genocide
     where he paid his respects and laid a wreath. 
      PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE FROM HOLY ETCHMIADZIN




                     Official Recognition by the
                     City Of Edinburgh Council
                     of the Armenian Genocide
                          
17th November 2005

At the sitting of the City Council of Edinburg, Capital City of Scotland, the Council agreed
to pass a motion proposed by the Leader of the Labour majority Mr Donald Anderson supporting
the view that the Ottoman actions against the Armenian community did constitute genocide
.

Prior to the meeting enormous work and lobbying was carried out over the last six months by Turkish
organisations to prevent the consideration of the motion and for the Council to refrain from voting on the
issue.

At the meeting of the Council on Thursday 17th of November, 2005, deputations were allowed to attend
the Council meeting and present arguments for and against adoption of the Motion. 

Deputations from three Turkish organisations presented arguments against the motion through three speakers.
The Armenian deputations were from the Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain (ACCC)
and from Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (CRAG).
The speakers from the Armenian deputations were Dr Harry Hagopian and Dr Hagop Bessos and they were
accompanied by Dr Donald Bloxham, Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh who presented
arguments in favour of passing the Motion from a Historian's viewpoint. 

Despite en-bloc opposition from the Council members from the Conservative Party, the motion was passed
( 29 votes in favour, 16 votes against ) with the support of the members from the Labour and of the Liberal
Democratic Parties.
              
                   
PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE


                    CAIA - Centre for Armenian Information & Advice

    On 12th November 2005 the CAIA held its Annual General Meeting hand the members have elected
    a Board of Directors/Trustees to serve for the ensuing year.
                            
TO READ FULL PRESS RELEASE PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK

...........................................................................





  TO OPEN THE ABOVE MENTIONED APPLICATION FORM IN PRINTABLE .PDF PLEASE CLICK HERE
 Please post or take completed forms to The Armenian Embassy, 25A Cheniston Gardens, London W8 6TG
 

               
  
BRITISH HISTORIAN SAYS
                           " TURKS MUST ADMIT ARMENIAN DEATHS "

    Eminent historian and lecturer at Edinburgh University, Donald Bloxham has written to The Scotsman saying " Those who deny the orchestrated mass murder of the majority of the Ottoman Armenian community are akin to flat-earth theorists -- They are flying in the face of a mountain of evidence that has convinced every objective specialist historian that genocide took place in 1915-16" 
 
TO READ FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK:   http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1990622005 



      = Turkish Parliament Sends Petition to Peers and M.Ps:
    "- - - the Blue Book - - - is not a reliable historical account of the Ottoman Armenian's revolt
       and the Ottoman government's subsequent response. It is a fraud based on fabrications,
       half truths and biased reports - - - "
      = Special Meeting Held in House of Lords
      = Historian Ara Sarafian Issues Comprehensive Report Refuting Turkish Position.
 
Sarafian maintains that Turkish parliamentarians deliberately avoided addressing
 questions they themselves raised as a strategic ploy. This was most evident from the letter sent to
 British parliamentarians.  Sarafian referred to his written report which refuted the Turkish position.
 He said the Turkish stance was akin to Holocaust deniers and this was why Sarafian called Turkish
 Parliamentarians "deniers".

             
CLICK HERE TO READ PRESS RELEASE BY THE GOMIDAS INSTITUTE
             
READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT'S PETITION (PDF)
             
READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE REPORT ISSUED BY MR. ARA SARAFIAN (PDF)

                                     --------------------------------------------

                         British Government Refuses
                     to "Reconsider" the "BLUE BOOK"

The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Foreign & Commonwealth Office - through its Ambassador to Turkey Sir Peter Westmacott, refused to entertain the request made
by the Turkish Parliament last April to
"reconsider" the "Blue Book", a 1916
parliamentary report, formally titled,
" Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
1915-16,
" that documents the sytematic, deliberate and politically motivated nature
of the Armenian Genocide.

In a letter, Sir Peter Westmacott officially explained that the Blue Book was the
property and publication of the British Parliament.  He emphasized that – contrary to
the insinuations of the Turkish parliamentarians –
"none of the individual reports
 [presented in the document] has been refuted
" and that the moral and intellectual
 probity of the authors, Lord Bryce and the prominent historian Arnold J. Toynbee
 – may not be questioned.
 



      PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN COMMISSION CALLS ON
       TURKEY TO RECOGNISE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

For the first time the Commission has Directly Pressed Ankara to end its Campaign of Armenian Genocide Denial

In an unprecedented move the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, has directly called upon Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

During a recent speech at Harvard University, Mr. Barroso stressed, "We should bear in mind that Turkey is an important state and has great potential from the viewpoint of the social and economic future of Europe. However the problem of Kurds and national minorities still remains a very delicate matter for Turkey. National minorities in Turkey constantly face infringement of their human rights."

In his remarks about European relations with Turkey, Mr Barroso stated that Ankara is developing relations with  Greece and should adopt a similarly constructive approach toward Armenia. He explained that, "Turks should  acknowledge the reality of the Armenian Genocide. Orhan Pamuk's case is an inadmissible step from the standpoint  of freedom of speech. Turkey should refrain from simplified attitude towards the Armenian issue. Europeans dislike the words 'there was no Genocide.' Ankara's best move would be the acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide and opening the borders with Armenia."



                  Anti-Armenian Materials Seized
                       at London Airport

ANKARA--The Anadolu News Agency reports that according to an October 23 article in the Turkish Zaman Daily, police seized Anti-Armenian CDs and DVDs en route to Scotland at London's Stansted Airport on Saturday 22 October. The materials were headed for a symposium scheduled to take place on October 24 at the Edinburgh City Hall in Scotland.

According to Zaman, the conference, "1915 Ottoman-Turk Armenian Tragedy of the War Period," was organized by the Turkish community in Britain to review the "events of 1915 from their own perspective." It also reports that the symposium is organized by the Federation to Fight Against the Unfounded Armenian Allegations (ASEF) and the Britain Turkish Associations Confederation.
   
  Source:  ASBAREZ.Com



                                  " Audere est Facere "  -  To Dare is To Do
                                E.U. - Turkey and the Armenian Genocide
                                     By Dr. Harry Hagopian

  "Once recognition by Turkey of this human rights travesty occurs, and the sacrifices of well over one million Armenian men, women and children during the period 1915-1923 are marked with closure, we could underline with conviction the maxim audere est facere - to dare is to do - in the sense that we dared together to overcome the physical, psychological and historical traumas of a painful and stolen past."
                        
PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE (.PDF)


      TIME Prints Full-Page Letter to Rectify Turkish DVD Flap
                               By Harut Sassounian,  Publisher, The California Courier

   "If TIME magazine thinks that this right of reply settles all accounts, it is sadly mistaken. TIME magazine's response does not redress the terrible suffering of those who saw this sordid tool of denialist propaganda. Taking into account the most heinous content of this DVD, our demands for redress go far beyond this simple right of reply and we intend to attain them,"
                                     H. Mardirossian, Chairman, Armenian National Committee of France (CDCA),
                                
TO READ FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK

 

      HOW CAN A COUNTRY THAT VICTIMISES ITS GREATEST
                                                          LIVING WRITER ALSO JOIN THE EU?

        
        Salman Rushdie
        The Times, UK Oct 14 2005

      " --- the Turkish application is indeed a test case for the EU, a test of whether the Union has any
        principles at all."

      " An unprincipled Europe, which turns its back on great artists and fighters for freedom, will continue
         to alienate its citizens, whose disenchantment has already been widely demonstrated by the votes
         against the proposed new constitution. So the West is being tested as well as the East.
         On both sides of the Bosphorus, the Pamuk case matters."
                      
                                            
CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE


  Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II on the 1600th Anniversary of the Creation of the Armenian Alphabet


On Saturday, October 8, 2005, the Armenian Church and Nation dispersed throughout the world celebrated the Feast of the Holy Translators. The Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians can be read here
                                 by
CLICKING THIS LINK

 

 From THE PRESS  - 6th October, 2005:

 
"--- Armenian people had been subject to the most apalling genocide committed by the Turks during World War I, a subject that has quite rightly come back to haunt Turkey this week in its attempt to join the European Union"
  "--- I took the opportunity to sit for two minutes and say a prayer for the future of Armenia ---"
  " I look forward to visiting Armenia again soon"
        
CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE BY THIS MEMBER OF THE GREATER LONDON ASSEMBLY

 

                                         European Parliament Resolution: 
                 Turkey's Recognition of Armenian Genocide is
             Prerequisite to its Accession to the European Union
      

In a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 28th September, 2005, by 356 votes in favour, 181 against and 125 abstentions, Parliament noted the Commission's and Council's view that access negotiations with Turkey can start on 3 October. 

A
s part of the same resolution, the European Parliament also noted the fact that Turkish authorities still had not satisfied the requirements concerning the Armenian questions such as they were expressed by the European Parliament in its resolution of June 18, 1987 calling on Turkey to recognise the Genocide of the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey,  and the European Parliament therefore resolved to "call on Turkey to recognize the Genocide of the Armenians," and that the Parliament considers this act a "prerequisite to accession to the European Union."

 

                  British Armenian Community Celebrates
  Armenian Independence Day
  

 On Saturday 21st of September, 2005 the Armenian Community of London gathered together at the St. Yeghiche Church in Kensington to celebrate the 14th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia.

 The evening which was organised by the Executive Committee of the ACCC was an immense success as the capacity audience of over 600 enjoyed brilliant performances by numerous young Armenian artists from both Britain as well as from Armenia. 

The evening's programme also included short speeches by His Grace Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Primate of the Armenian Church in the U.K., Dr. Vahe Gabrielyan, Ambassador of Armenia and Mr Ara Palamoudian, Chairman of the Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain.  

Special thanks to all those who took part in the evening's programme. Their names and photographs appear in the evening's album of photographs.

Thanks also to all those who helped in organising the evening and especially to Rousanna Tatulian and Matilda Megerdichian who both worked extremely hard to bring together so many artists and performers and who were instrumental in producing such a successful programme.

Special mention should also be made of Varoujan Utuvjian and Aram Tateossian for their most important function of so expertly operating the elaborate sound equipment, and last but not at all least thanks to Dr Harry Hagopian who once again this year so eloquently and efficiently introduced and managed the evening's programme.
                    PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW ALBUM OF PHOTOGRAPHS


 
                
Balakian's 'Burning Tigris' Wins 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize

New York, NY

Peter Balakian's The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response has been awarded the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize for the best scholarly book in the preceding two years on the subject of genocide, mass killings, gross human rights violations, and the prevention of such crimes. The award is given by the Institute for the Study of Genocide at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.

The prize comes with a cash award and commemorates Raphael Lemkin, the legal scholar who pioneered the international legal concept of genocide. Helen Fein, Chair of the prize committee called The Burning Tigris "a book of enduring scholarly value and of important contemporary meaning." Previous winners include Samantha Power's A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), and Alison Des Forges Leave None To Tell The Story: Genocide In Rwanda.



                       ** BREAKING NEWS ** BREAKING NEWS **

         U.S. HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
OVERWHELMINGLY ADOPTS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION

Passage Comes Despite the Strident Opposition from Turkish Embassy, The Livingston Group, and American Turkish Council

WASHINGTON, DC - 15 September 2005
Following almost three hours of remarks by a bipartisan group of 24 Members of Congress, the House International Relations Committee, today, voted in favor of two measures calling for proper U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide and urging Turkey to end its decades long denial of this crime against humanity, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The votes clear yet another hurdle toward full House recognition of the Armenian Genocide  --- 
                           
TO READ FULL REPORT PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK                                                               (AT11)





                     NEW BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA APPOINTED

Mr. Anthony Cantor
has been appointed Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Republic of Armenia in succession to Thorhilda Abbott-Watt who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment.  Mr. Cantor will take up his appointment in January 2006.   

Anthony John James Cantor (59) has served in the British Diplomatic Service for about forty years.  He has occupied different posts within the Foreign Ministry of Great Briain and in diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom abroad, including Tokyo, Osaka, Hanover, Hanoi, Rangoon, Accra. He served as Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Paraguay from 2001 to 2005 - up to the new appointment.

Mr Cantor is married and has two daughters and a son.

 

                 CRAG CHAIRMAN PRESENTS DETAILED PAPER ON
      ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO TOP LAWMAKERS AND SCHOLARS

Mr Raffi Sarkissian, Chairman of CRAG - Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide -  presented a highly detailed and scholarly paper to a special conference held on 1-2 September, 2005,  at the Nottingham Trent University, in the presence of highly eminent international judges, lawyers and scholars from Europe, Africa and the USA.

Keynote Speakers were Prof. Henry T. King, former prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, Prof. Juan Mendes, U.N. Special Adviser on the prevention of Genocide and H.E. Judge Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Judge of the International Criminal Court. 

The International Conference on the Criminal Law of Genocide was intended to be an expert meeting on a subject which is of the greatest importance to international law and international affairs and through the presentations of its speakers and discussants, it was intended to bring a more profound understanding and analysis of the crime.

Immediately following the first keynote speaker, Mr. Sarkissian of CRAG presented to the conference his paper entitled "THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE. A CONTEXTUAL VIEW OF THE CRIME AND POLITICS OF DENIAL" which was well received by the attendees. 

      
CLICK HERE TO READ THE PRESENTATION MADE BY CRAG'S R. SARKISSIAN ( .pdf) =
              =  CLICK HERE TO READ THE BROCHURE OF THE CONFERENCE (.pdf)  =

                  
                         CRAG is a Committee within the structure of the ACCC
                                           Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain

 

                 APPEAL FROM THE ARMENIAN RELIEF SOCIETY - LONDON BRANCH FOR THE
                                                   "YERP KALIS E SEPTEMPERE"
             PROJECT OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTRY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
                                                       PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ


                                   TIME Magazine Apologises

Harut Sassounian - California Courier - Reports:

 - - - Six weeks ago, the Switzerland-Armenia Association (SAA) sent a letter of protest to TIME magazine expressing its "shock and disappointment" that TIME included in its European Edition (June 6, 2005 issue), as a paid ad, a Turkish DVD that denied the Armenian Genocide.

James Kelly, the Managing Editor of TIME, responded last week to SAA's letter by stating: "We regret distributing the [Turkish] DVD as part of TIME's European edition and are very sorry for the offense it has  caused. The so-called 'documentary' portion of the DVD presents a one-sided view of history that does not meet our standards for fairness and accuracy, and we would not have distributed it had we been aware of its content. Unfortunately the DVD was not adequately reviewed by anyone at TIME because it was believed to be a benign promotion piece. I can assure you that we have changed our review process and will be much more vigilant in the future. We apologize to the Armenian community, and to our readers." - - -
                                                    
READ FULL ARTICLE - PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK

 

 

                              "Cilicia" docks at Portsmouth    

The modern replica of the medieval Armenian merchant vessel Cilicia set sail on its historic voyage on July 14, 2004 from Poti, Georgia.  Flying the Armenian flag, the vessel followed the route of medieval Cilicia Armenian merchants, who had close connections with European seaports in the 13-th century. The voyage consisted of two stages: the first included sailing from Poti to Venice, where the vessel moored for the winter; the second part of the voyage covered the distance from Venice to Amsterdam and on its way it moored at the U.K. port of Portsmouth where on the 20th of August there was a welcoming ceremony and the ship was greeted by a large group of members of the community.

The day's welcoming arrangements which had been organised by the ACCC included a Thanksgiving Lunch and a Welcoming Ceremony.  The crew were dressed in the ancient contemporary Armenian garments and the sight of such an interesting and ancient vessel docked in the port of Portsmouth was unique.  The welcoming party included Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Baroness Cox, members of the Armenian Embassy, members of the Council of the ACCC and representatives of Armenian organisations in the UK. 

The ambitious idea of constructing a ship in landlocked Armenia was realized by the efforts of the members of the Ayas Nautical Research Club. Without prior experience and ship-building industrial skills absent in the country, it took them 11 years to build the model of a 13th century Armenian ship. Ancient Armenia had a seaport in Cilicia, and one of the military ships was called Ayas. Hence, the name that the Club borrowed. On completion it was transported to Poti on a trailer. Cilicia will sail round Europe over seven seas through 22 countries


 



               HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Lord Triesman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State speaking for the Government said:
" I say unequivocally that what took place was by any standards an atrocity of the first order."

" . . . every nation responsible for atrocities on such a scale needs to face them, think about them and consider what can be done or said to help to heal some of the wound that was caused, even if some time ago.

On the 14th of July, 2005, Baroness Cox asked Her Majesty's Government whether they will reconsider their position with regard to recognition of the Armenian massacres of 1915 as genocide.
Lord Triesman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, spoke for the Government.
Baroness Cox stated that testimony of respected contemporary witnesses shows that the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey would certainly fit the contemporary definition of genocide.Other speakers were Lord Archer of Sandwell, Lord Howell of Guildford, Lord McClusky and Lord Avebury.
                  
FOR FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE PROCEEDINGS PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK
 

                     
             EDUCATIONAL BOOKS SHIPPED TO UNIVERSITY OF YEREVAN

 

A container-full of educational books comprising 6223 volumes donated by an Armenian-owned Company was transported from the U.K. to the University of Yerevan.

The total value of the books was about £100,000 and they covered a large field of educational subjects.  Most of the books were specialist subject volumes and apart from being of high value, they were books which should be of great benefit to the University.

The major portion of the shipping cost was paid by the Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    TURKISH POLITICIAN ARRESTED IN SWITZERLAND FOR DESCRIBING RECOGNITION
                         OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AN  "INTERNATIONAL LIE"

A Turkish politician, who is under investigation in Switzerland for saying that massacres of Armenians during World War I did not amount to genocide, said the Swiss anti-racism laws were comparable to the "medieval Inquisition" in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

The Swiss investigation of Perincek stems from remarks last week in which he denied the genocidal nature of the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which has caused a diplomatic rupture between the two countries.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul lodged a complaint with the Swiss ambassador to Ankara, saying it was "unacceptable" to detain Perincek.

Perincek was questioned by police last weekend in the Swiss town of Winterthur. He allegedly said that the Armenian genocide was "an international lie", a remark deemed racist under Swiss law.

 

        SWISS PARLIAMENTARIAN SAYS TURKEY BOUND TO ACKNOWLEDGE
                                    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanArmenian News Network
29.07.2005

Chairman of the commission for foreign affairs of the Swiss House of Representatives Ervin Jutset stated that Turkey must acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, otherwise it will face serious problems with the EU. In his words, Turkey should abandon its tone of aggression and blackmail and proceed to reform. When commenting on the criminal prosecution against Chairman of the Turkish Union of Historians Yusuf Ghalaoghlu and Chairman of the Turkish Labor Party Dogu Perincek, who keep on denying the Armenian Genocide, the Swiss parliamentarian that unless Turkey assumes the responsibility for the Armenian Genocide it will perceive any events of the kind oversensitively, Yerkir online reports.

 

Received from YERKIR, Yerevan:

                             
Venezuela Parliament Adopts
                Armenian Genocide resolution

20.07.2005    

The Parliament of Venezuela adopted a resolution on July 14 recognizing the Armenian Genocide, introduced by Parliament Member Victor Hugo Morales and lawyer Janet Madris.

Archbishop Komitas Ohanian and Grigor Postalian represented Venezuela's Armenian community at the Parliament session. The resolution also calls on the European Union to deny Turkey a European Union membership unless and until that country recognized the Armenian Genocide.

The resolution of the Venezuelan Parliament recognising the Aremenian Genocide is a culmination of the efforts over many years by Catholicos Aram I and the Catholicosate of Cilesia and of the members of the Armenian Community of Venezuela.

 

   


  = " If Turkey wants to join the EU it must confront its bloody past and
                                                                 admit to the massacre of the Armenians"
  =  "Britain has a responsibility to encourage Turkey to see its own history"
            
THE ABOVE ARTICLE BY BEN MACINTYRE APPEARED IN THE TIMES OF JUNE 18, 2005
                                  CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE


               
GERMAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR TURKEY TO CARRY OUT
  
"HONEST HISTORICAL REVIEW" OF KILLING OF 1.5 MILLION ARMENIANS

AP Worldstream; Jun 16, 2005

Germany's parliament on Thursday June 16th, urged Turkey to examine its role in the killing of an estimated 1 million ethnic Armenians a century ago, an issue that could weigh on Ankara's hopes of joining the European Union.

Lawmakers adopted a cross-party resolution asking the Berlin government to press Turkey to investigate the "organized expulsion and destruction of the Armenians" and foster reconciliation.       . . . Continued
                                         PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE

              


                                          THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS A HISTORICAL FACT
                      HISTORIANS DO NOT NEED TO "DISCUSS" THE TRUTH


Eminent German Historian Heinrich A. Winkler said the following
( Spiegel - 2 May 2005):

 " Where would we be headed if we were indifferent to the fact that the genocide against the Armenians (by the Turks) 90 years ago is suppressed? As the German Reich, we were accomplices at the time. We made ourselves guilty as well. We cannot be indifferent if a country wanting to join the EU thinks it can deny genocide. "

                                

Statement on the Armenian Genocide by Dr Donald Bloxham, Lecturer in Twentieth Century History, -  University of Edinburgh - April 2005

If Britain's annual Holocaust Memorial Day is to mean anything, it should entail an ethical commitment not to shy away from other instances of genocide, past and present. The ongoing issue of official recognition of the Armenian genocide has become a litmus test for the west's new-found enthusiasm for historical commemoration, and the British government has failed that test. If this is entirely predictable given the ease with which 'principle' is invoked and discarded in international affairs, it is also entirely consistent with the history of Britain's relations to the Armenian people before and during the genocide.

From the late nineteenth century onwards, as 'the Armenian question' became a significant factor in the great imperial game in the near east, Britain involved itself as much as any power in relations between the late Ottoman state and its Armenian minority, and with no result except to exacerbate those relations and to fail to provide any protection for the Armenians. The same self-serving approach that took little account of the human cost of its policies as Armenians were being massacred in increasingly large numbers in 1895-6 and 1915-16 underpins the present-day refusal to upset the modern Republic of Turkey by calling a spade a spade.

Dr Donald Bloxham, Lecturer in Twentieth Century History, University of Edinburgh, and Author of The Great Game of Genocide - Imperialism, Nationalism and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians
 
                                                        

                                           
Statement by Baroness Cox of Queensbury
                                                   
PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK

                                        
Speech delivered by Ara H. Palamoudian, Chairman of the Armenian Community & Church Council of Great Britain, at the Commemorative Evening of the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on  22nd April, 2005

 

                 


 

Received from Armenag Topalian:

                                      
ARNOLD TOYNBEE (Co-Author of the Blue Book)
 
There has been much recent publicity from the Turkish side that Arnold Toynbee later retracted some of the conclusions of the HMSO Blue Book.  The latter has even been portrayed as a piece of propaganda written to promote Allied interests during World War 1.

Should you wish to know the position in his own words, an extract follows from Toynbee's last book published before his death:

EXPERIENCES by Arnold Toynbee  -  Oxford University Press, New York and London 1969
(pp 241 and 242)
Chapter headed The Struggle between Human Feeling and Inhumanity  sub-section heading, (ii) Human Feeling versus Genocide, Eviction and Apartheid:

 "...I am old enough to remember the horror at the massacre of Armenian Ottoman subjects in the Ottoman Empire in 1896 at the instigation of the infamous Sultan Abd-al-Hamid II. But this act of genocide was amateur and ineffective compared to the largely successful attempt to exterminate the Ottoman Armenians that was made during the First World War, in 1915, by the post-Hamidian regime of 'The Committee of Union and Progress', in which the principal criminals were Tala't and Enver. The second World War was accompanied by the Nazis' genocide of the Jews both in Germany and in the other European countries that were temporarily overrun and occupied by the German military forces. Since the general level of technology and organisational efficiency in Germany during the dozen years of Nazi regime was considerably higher than it had been in Turkey during the ten years of the CUP regime, the German genocide of the European Jews was still more effective than the Turkish genocide of the Ottoman Armenians had been....".
 

 
        
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH OF MANCHESTER LAUNCHES WEBSITE
The Armenian Community & Church Council is please to inform the community that a  website has been launched by the Holy Trinity Armenian Church of Manchester.  We strongly recommend a visit and we congratulate them on a beautifully produced and highly informative website.  
                 The website url is: 
http://www.armenianchurchmanchester.org.uk


                   




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