Ankara to host symposium on Armenian Genocide

April 2, 2010 - 11:26 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 24-25, a symposium on the Armenian Genocide, titled “1915 within its pre- and post-historical periods: denial and confrontation,” will be held in Ankara. Organized by the Ankara Freedom to Thought Initiative (AFTI), the symposium will not only address the history, but explore issues like the confiscation of Armenian property and reparations, The Armenian Weekly reported.

Confirmed participants include Ragip Zarakolu (publisher), Recep Marasli (author of The Armenian National Democratic Movement and 1915 Genocide), Sait Cetinoglu (activist and writer), Dr. David Gaunt (genocide scholar, author of Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I), Dr. Henry Theriault (professor of Philosophy, Worcester State University), and Khatchig Mouradian (Doctoral student in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University; editor, the Armenian Weekly).

Dedicated to the memory of Hrant Dink, the symposium will comprise of four sessions: a) the Armenian Genocide from a historical perspective, b) official ideological denial from the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) to Kemalism, c) Turkification of the Economy and the issue of the confiscated Armenian Property, and d) what needs to be done and how?

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.