1987_04 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper April 1987

              APRIL 1987
HYE SHARZHOOM
Page 3
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huijng uilinj2 qplipli m 2mpp:
APRIL 24th RESOLUTION EFFORTS
Joint Resolution designating April 24, 1987, as "National
Dav of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-
1923"
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That April 24, 1987, is
designated as "National Day of Remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923", and the President is
authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling
upon the people of the United States to observe this date as a
day of remembrance for the 1.5 million people of Armenian
ancestry who were victims of the genocide perpetrated by the
governments of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923 prior
to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, and in their
memory this date is commemorated by all Armenians and
their friends throughout the world.
By Greg Eritzian
Staff Writer
This February, bills recognizing the
Armenian Genocide were; introduced into the
.U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
These bills will formally recognize the
Armenian Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915-1923 by the Ottoman Turkish
government and call for a national day of
remembrance for the victims on April 24th.
Representative Richard Lehman of Sanger,
California introduced House Joint Resolution
132 and Senator Alan Cranston of Ca.
introduced Senate Joint Resolution 43. It is
noteworthy to mention that Rep. Tony Coelho
and Rep. Chip Pashayan who are both
representatives of Fresno area districts, and
Sen. Pete Wilson of California have also co-
sponsored the bill in their respective houses of
Congres. Through the lobbying efforts of the
.Armenian Assembly, the Armenian National
Committee, and the Armenian Rights Council
of America, over half of the required 218 co-
sponsors of the House and 14 of the 50
required co-sponsors of the senate have been
enlisted as of the second week of March.
As Armenians we should all feel grateful
towards these Congressmen for recognizing
and supporting a bill of'this nature, depicting
the plight of our people to the world. Our
thanks should also go to the Armenian
Assembly, the Armenian National Committee,
and the Armenian Rights Council, for their
lobbying efforts to even get these bills
introduced on the House and Senate floors.
It should be known that this bill has come
under a tremendous lobbying attack by the
present Turkish Government and by the U.S.
State Department This should not come to us
as a great surprise because a similar bill was
previously defeated and then bottled up in the
committee process in 1985. It is obvious (to
us) why the present Turkish government is
attacking this bill. They do not want to draw
the public attention of a new generation to the
brutal policies of a historical Turkey for these
reasons:
There is the very remote possibility that the
world powers would pressure the present
government to admit these atrocities and accept
the responsibility of the former Ottoman
government which might include reparations
to the Armenian people. (This would be
similar to present day Germany having
accepted the atrocities of the Jewish Holocaust
and it still making reparations to Jewish
victims). Seventy-two years after the fact, I see
this above possiblity as likely to occur as -a
snowball in hell. If these reparations were ever
to have been made, it would have been at the
end of World War I when President Woodrow
Wilson suggested the formation of an
American mandatory, and in the unratified
Treaty of Versailles which proposed an
independent Armenian state.
The main reason why Turkey opposes this
resolution is because the revelation of brutal
policies of the Ottoman Government may and
will bring revelations of the present brutalities
of present day Turkey. Yes America, as of
1987, Turkey still persecutes its religious and
ethnic minorities. As reported by Amnesty
International in 1984, Turkey is one of the
worst human rights violators of any country in
the world. At the time of the report, Turkey
ranked number one per capita. Reports were
coming out which stated that Kurds (a nomadic
Moslem minority of Turkey - population 10
million) were being arrested and tortured in
jails (similiar to situations in the movie
"Midnight Express") just for being Kurds and
for speaking the Kurdish language in public. It
was reported that several Kurdish peoples
tongues have been cut out of their mouths for
speaking Kurdish.
More recendy in the bombing of an
Istanbul Jewish synogogue (where about 17
Jews were killed), the Turks in their
sophisticated investigations immediately
reported Arab Palestinians were responsible.
This "for sure" statement was made even
though the bomber's body was unidentifiable
and no Palestinian group claimed
responsibility. Reports stated that this
bombing was the work of Turks and was
concealed by their government.
As of this March, plans were drawn up by
the Turkish government, for the relocation of
9.5 million people, involving the
depopulation of 700 villages and towns; from
the eastern provinces, the southern
Mediterranean coast, and a couple of western
coastal or near coastal towns. The people will
be resetded into the Turkish interior. It should
be noted that these listed regions are
predominately Kurdish. Another area from
which the inhabitants are to be relocated is the
northern area of the Black Sea coast. These
inhabitants, about 100,000, are Cherkez (a
Russian-Turkish mixed, Moslem tribe).
According to Turkish Minister of Agriculture
Husnu Doghan, "The aim of the relocation is
the well being of the villagers."
Wake up world! The last time the Turks
implemented forced resettlement as it has been
called, the objective was the attempted
genocide of a race, namely 1.5 million
Armenians.
The State Department in its infinite
wisdom has chosen to side with the Turks.
Their reasons are stated by State Department
spokesman Charles Redman on March 30,
1987, 'Turkey's strategic importance makes
the genocide resolution a delicate issue." He
points out that Turkey serves as a "bridge and
buffer" between east and west. Another
standard State Department line is that Turkey
is a valuable and dependable ally. First, the
only reason why Turkey is an ally at all is
because the U.S. pumps over one billion
dollars annually into their government so they
(Turkey) may continue their barbarous
activities against its minorities. Secondly,
how trustworthy is an ally if it claims to be
strained in its foreign relations with the U.S.
if the U.S. makes a statement about its
atrocious human rights record?
"His brilliance", Secretary of Defense
Caspar Weinberger in a statement released to
the Turkish government just a few weeks ago
states that Turkey can be assured that the
Administration and the State Department will
not support any Armenian Genocide resolution
bill because of their strategic importance and
their value as an ally. He says that even if the
bill passes in the Congress, the President will
veto the bill. I can understand this from his
point of view, but he then continues that
supoort of these bills doesn't reflect the views
of the American people.
For our country's sake and the world's sake
Caspar, I hope this attitude of indifference is
not the view of the average American. If this
is the attitude toward our fellow man, I would
wish that my people were seals or whales. If
we brutally maim or kill these cute or cuddly
animals, we see direct governmental
interferrence to prevent these "cruel
slaughters". Examples include Canada and its
seal hunts, Japan and Russia and the whaling
industry, animal humanity laws and formation
oftheS.P.CA.,ete.
Yet when it comes to the wholesale
genocide of people (which includes cute and
cuddly babies and children) which has happened
to the Armenians, Jews, Cambodians,
Africans, Ethiopians, etc.) the world turns its
back and pretends to see nothing.
To the Congress, State Department, and
President Reagan, I strongly recommend your
support of this Armenian Genocide Resolution
bill because if we are too afraid to approach the
previous human rights violations of Turkey,
we may see another genocide of 100,000
Cherkez and 10 million Kurds.
To the Armenian people, I urge you to
write your Congressman asking for his
support on the bill. But don't get your hopes
up on its passage. If this bill doesn't pass it
will in no way diminish the degree of
atrocities suffered by our people.
Medical Help Sought
Recendy several doctors visiting
Armenia were impressed by the need for
certian medical equipment and medicines.
In particular they were struck by the need
for medicine to combat Mediterranean
Fever.
According to recent medical releases an
estimated 10,000 to 60,000 Armenians in
Yerevan are suffering from Mediterranean
fever (Yerevanian Disease) and lacking the
required medicine, Colchicine, for their
illness. Each patient needs two tablets of
Colchicine daily for the rest of his life,
once the diagnosis has been made.
A group of concerned Armenians
purchased a tablet pressing machine and
sent it to Armenian where the tablets can
be made to meet the demand. To faciliate
this project a nonprofit, tax deductible
organization has been formed. Any
individual wishing to contribute to this
cause may send their donation to:
Medical Outreach for
Armenians, Inc.
c/o Dr. Vartkes Najarian
1030 S. Glendale Ave., Suite
503
Glendale, CA 91205