Thousands of people gathered on Sunday in several cities in Turkey coincided with the International Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, called by various NGOs who wanted to remember the dead Armenian intellectuals or exiled in 1915 and to appeal to the Turkish society to tackle the "taboo Armenian" and face "their own history."
The concentracciones succeeded Sunday in several cities across the country, including Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Bursa and Bodrum. Its aim was to remember the tragic events in 1915, in full World War I and during the final years of the dying Ottoman Empire. April 24 is the date chosen worldwide to remember the victims of the violence that led to what Armenia and the Diaspora claimed as the "Armenian genocide", an idea that Turkey is rejected assertion that Armenians and Turks suffered the consequences of that turbulent era.
In Istanbul there were two simultaneous concentracciones, and after the ceremonies on the occasion of Easter Masses were held and prayers in all Armenian churches of the city in memory of the victims of those years.
The first of the public celebrations in Istanbul took place at noon in Sultanahmet Square, organized by the Muslim NGOs IHD (famous for being the organized humanitarian fleet Mavi Marmara to Gaza). The audience showed the names of Armenian intellectuals that the April 24, 1915 were forced to leave their houses in Istanbul and sent to exile all their names -250 in all-were read aloud and then lying beside a tree.
"It's a matter of conscience. Intellectuals are not enough for Turkey to confront itself," he told reporters İhsan Kacar, a member of the Commission against Racism and Discrimination, in reference to a campaign started long ago by several Turkish intellectuals in showing their solidarity with the suffering of the Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, but without recognizing the fact as constituting genocide. "NGOs need to have a clear stance on this issue. Coping Armenian taboo mean for Turkey face its own history, "said Kacar.
" Nobody puts hot packs to speak of the Jewish genocide and the genocide of Native Americans, "said Ahmet Tamer meanwhile, a lawyer and member of IHD association. "But who knows why, we hesitate to talk about the genocide they suffered these lands. I guess it's hard to face ourselves, "he said.
concentracciones The second of the memory of Armenian victims of 1915 in Istanbul took place in the equally famous Taksim Square, organized by the initiative" Stop Racism and Nationalism. " Under the motto "The pain is of us all", written in Turkish, Armenian and English, among hundreds of people attending the ceremony were also prominent members of the press, politics, literature and art of Turkey and as representatives of various NGOs. Hundreds of attendees carrying red carnations and portraits of Armenian intellectuals exiled or killed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Their names also were read aloud and were deposited carnations and lighted candles.
This is not the first time that a ceremony of its kind in Istanbul and Turkey. In fact, very much a minority party supporters HKP (nationalistic and without parliamentary representation), used the occasion to hold counter-demonstrations both in Taksim (Istanbul) and in other cities such as Izmir and Ankara, shouting at those attending the events in memory of Armenian victims of 1915, which accused of listening to the "lies of imperialism", but police prevented them from approaching.
The debate on whether or not the Armenian genocide has been revived in recent years in Turkey through various initiatives and by improving freedom of expression with the reforms introduced by the AKP government; articles of Turkish legislation as 301-removed the last few years, condemning any mention of the Armenian genocide on the grounds that it constituted an insult to the "Turkish national identity."
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