PEACE IN KURDISTAN
With the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on 24 April 2019, the world is once again reminded of the mass murder of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the systematic denial of this crime by successive Turkish governments.
The Armenian Genocide entailed the methodical vilification and destruction of Armenian communities across the Ottoman Empire from Van and Erzurum to Rodosto (Tekirdag) and Edirne. With very few exceptions, over 3,000 Armenian communities were destroyed with the loss of one and a half million lives. The genocide of Assyrian and Greeks followed suit, until the declaration of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.
The Armenian Genocide was a foundational crime at the very heart of the Turkish Republic. It created a new demographic profile and underpinned institutional violence and intimidation as part of Turkey’s political culture. The mass murder of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks was followed by the forced assimilation of remaining Muslim populations in Turkey – Kurds, Arabs, Albanians, Pomaks, Cherkes and others. The Kurds became a particular target of assimilation and genocide.
Today, Turkish state institutions continue to deny the fact of the Armenian Genocide, as they continue with the calculated oppression of Turkey’s remaining ethnic and religious minorities. Yet, despite a century of genocide and denial, millions of Armenians outside Turkey bear witness, to remind and condemn the Turkish Republic as a genocidal state.
Nora Vosbigian, Peace in Kurdistan
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Gingell – Tel: 020 7272 7890
Patrons: John Austin, Christine Blower, NEU International Secretary, Prof Bill Bowring, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Dr Cynthia Cockburn, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Prof Mary Davis, Lord Dholakia, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Jill Evans MEP, Lindsey German, Convenor STWC, Melanie Gingell, Christopher Gingell, Rahila Gupta, Nick Hildyard, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, James Kelman, Bruce Kent, Jean Lambert MEP, Elfyn Llwyd, Aonghas MacNeacail, Scottish Gaelic poet, Mike Mansfield QC, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU, Dr. Jessica Ayesha Northey, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Kate Osamor MP, Margaret Owen OBE, Gareth Peirce, Dr Felix Padel, Maxine Peake, Lord Rea, Joe Ryan, Stephen Smellie, Jonathan Steele, Steve Sweeney, Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Dr Tom Wakeford, Dr Derek Wall, Julie Ward MEP, Hywel Williams MP.