NEW YORK (A.W.)—On Sept. 16, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern U.S. Central Committee and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Eastern District USA issued a joint statement calling on all Armenian Americans to boycott the Oct. 7 concert in New York organized by the Turkish Consulate in celebration of the Akhtamar “reopening.” Turkish-Armenian pianist Sahan Arzruni is scheduled to play at the concert. The two political parties refer to the concert as “an extension of the same old denialism that would undermine our rights and our Cause.”
Commenting on Arzruni’s participation in the concert, Harut Sassounian, the publisher of the California Courier, told the Armenian Weekly: “Shahan Arzruni should not allow his music to be exploited by Turkey for anti-Armenian propaganda. It is bad enough that he got mixed up in the Akhtamar ‘political show’ by giving a concert in Van a week ago. He should not repeat that same mistake in New York City.”
“Mr. Arzruni should play music and not get sucked into cheap political games,” added Sassounian.
Norair Meguerditchian, the chair of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Eastern District USA, agrees. “The Turkish government is trying to hit two birds with one stone: to project a positive image to the world and create a schism in the Armenian Diaspora. They cannot penetrate the diaspora through its main gates, guarded by the Armenian organizations and political parties, so they are trying to exploit kind-hearted people and create problems,” he told the Weekly.
“We praise Arzruni’s talent and service to our culture and call on him to stay away from such political issues, so that the Turkish government fails to realize its objectives,” he added.
In turn, Antranig Kasbarian, chair of the ARF Central Committee Eastern U.S., told the Weekly: “Cross-cultural collaboration is a natural activity, and we shouldn’t cringe simply because Armenians and Turks are sharing a stage, a reading, or a conversation. The problem is when state actors and state narratives insert themselves into the picture. We must view the proposed Carnegie Hall event in this light: Why is the Turkish Consulate involved in staging such an event? To what end? And why do Mr. Arzruni and colleagues use this occasion to ‘celebrate’ the Aghtamar opening, when most of our national and community leaders firmly oppose it?”
He concluded, “Sounds like someone is too eager to please official Turkey. Poor judgment, at the very least…”
Mr. Sassounian, Mr. Meguerditchian and Mr. Kasbarian all hit the nail on the head with their comments.
It’s either very ‘poor judgment’ or he’s really desperate for an audience, any audience at that…
Shahan’s actions are disgraceful and foolish at best. Arzruni might as well donate his share of the proceeds from this concert to the Turkish American Association, if he’s willing to participate in yet another PR stunt at our expense…
The fact that our community leaders were obliged to release a statement advising everyone that – hey guys watch out ok…Turkey is staging another PR stunt so be careful not to get suckered into it again this time around? Hellllllloooooo! how can you not see this as anything but a PR stunt, a propaganda ploy, a blatantly obvious attempt for Turkey to get their money’s worth from the Akhtamar flop that didn’t garner the media impact they wanted here in the states?
Armenians like Arzruni need to wake up and stop swallowing the – lets all sing kumbaya around the campfire and eat dolma together while trying very hard not to bring up the elephant in the room – pill.
Yev, never/ever to forget the Turks’ inhumanity to our Armenian nation, slaughters and the tortures, rapes, violations of humans, and worse… and shall not end until the Turk admits its crimes against ALL humanity. Turks claiming that Muslims do not commit Genocides! A Turkey is unable to be one with civilized nations of the world – unable to maintain ‘relations’ with nations. Too, only able to grant Armenians ONE DAY/ONCE YEARLY use of our own ancient church. Denying our Armenian cross atop. Using this edifice to impress other nations of the ‘kindness’ of the Turks to Armenians in resurrecting our church. Except… the world is aware that our church is now a Turkish museum – which Turks repaired for tourism to a Turkey. Howsomever, each time the Turks ‘goof’ – and as the Armenians barely attended rites within a Turkish museum – their ‘goofs’ bring to the fore the ‘goofs’ of Turks – unending – and the whole world sees our church now has become a Turk Museum! One day, citizens of a Turkey shall learn that to join the civilized nations is more to be desired than to remain on the ‘outs’ with all civilized societies – but, a civilized Turkey… Manooshag
Yev, Dr. Gregory Stanton, a Genocide scholar and director of GENOCIDE WATCH has said:
“Genocide denials is a double killing, it is considered the last stage of Genocide where the perpetrators and their successive states attempt to cowardly rewrite history, vilify the victims and thus trivialize their fate. Thus the Turkish state has extended its denialist propaganda overseas into North America by hiring lucrative public relations companies, lobbying firms and as well, even academics to lie to continue in the United States of America and Canada denials of the Turkish Genocide of the Christian Armenian nation. Too, with their policy of denials of the Armenian Genocide the Turks’ own government continues to victimize the Armenians.
Too, the Turkish leaderships also, by lying to their citizens, thus corrupts the conscience of their own Turkish people. Turkey must acknowledge its own history. By doing so Turkey will contribute to ending the cycle of Genocides. Turkish leaderships must end their hostilities toward their victims, the Armenians. Turkish education should promote justice and reconciliation with the Armenians.
More, the civilized nations of the world, together, must urge Turks to become, too, a civilized nation.”
(Too, now let’s see how Turks interpret this, dissect/denying – unending lies. Manooshag
when i tried to be friends with turks, they tried to change my name to araz zeybaroglu
GREAT STEP FROM OUR LEADERS,
LONG LIVE A.R.F
OMG! I would never have believed it if I didn’t read it. The Armenian diaspora is in utter panic mode! They’re slowly sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong…Turkish & Azeri internal affairs. They protested any entertainer who wanted to perform for an openning of a hotel/casino in Northern Cyprus; now they have the gall to extend the same to the Turkish Consulate! This is actually good news, for it shows to the entire planet just how desperate and terrified the Armenian diaspora has become in preventing the truth and the collapse of their house of lies! Now, more and more people will ask…Why? What are they so afraid of AND what are they hiding? Your plans are doomed for ultimate failure becuase it’s bound to backfire very soon.
The future of Turkey’s EU accession process is very much connected to Armenian Genocide recognition by AKP party of Turkey, therefor “Genocide is a major obstacle and challenge for Turkish foreign policy..their goal, for now, DIVIDE ARMENIANS” especially American Armenians, and use “naive” Armenians as weapon, in order to cover up the truth of Armenian Genocide in world stage..
robert the robot turk, au contraire, you are desparate – just as are your leaderships with all their PLOYS, ongoing, unending, as the world watches/understands all the harassments the Armenians have born – and continue to contend – from a Turkey from 19th,20th – now into 21st centuries:
Genocides, abusive neighbor, still seeking to perpetrate whatever to demean and divide and destroy the fledgling Armenian nation… using PLOYS and lies – still ongoing, unending, Ottoman mentality/goofs… these leaderships from hordes from the Asian mountains, who know only to commit Genocides to gain and steal lands, wealths, cultures of ancient and advanced nations and when they lost all their conquered nations – kept Armenian lands for a Turkey for Turks ONLY.
Too, as Turks seek to continue their pursuit and abuses against the Armenians – one wonders; IMAGINE! was it instead, that it was the Armenians who perpetrated Genocide against a Turkey?? Manooshag
In general, Turkish authorities put a lot of pressure on national minorities and individuals belonging to national minorities.
I would not be surprised if it was the same in this case too.
Haha nice try, Robert. I appreciate your attempts at spin.
The objection here is that Turkey will use the logic that “see, Armenians and Turks are getting along, no need for third parties to upset this process by saying the G-word.”
It did this with the protocols. It did this with Akhtamar. It will do the same here. If the Armenian diasopora is scared, it is scared that the truth of genocide will be COVERED by these tactics, not that it will “come out” as you say.
We are not afraid of Armenians and Turks getting along. We are afraid of Turks using any signs of conciliation (not ‘reconciliation’, since conciliation never existed in the first place) for political purposes.
And by the way, in this case, Armenians are not sticking their nose in Turkish internal affairs, considering that this event is taking place in New York, the home of many Armenian-AMERICANS, and it involves an Armenian.
One last thing–your conflation of “Turkish/Azeri” internal affairs proves that pan-Turkism is alive and well in the minds of people like you. Reason enough to give Karabakh to Armenia.
Hey, guys, let’s ease up on Sahan, who is a pianist, a musician. He is not a
Genocide denier, and he is not a Turkish stooge. In my experience, he is a
very nice person and also a first-class musician who has explored the rich
musical heritage of the late Ottoman Empire, when Armenian composers were
contributing a lot to the world. I have huge respect for Harout and his principled
stance, but I think we should give Arzruni a break!
The event features two other names, Cihat Askin and Kevork Tavityan. This is a first-rate opportunity to present the issue of the Armenian Genocide and the trickery of Akhtamar to the public and especially in New York, PICKET THE EVENT, start in the afternoon if possible and continue into the evening. Be like the Jews, make noise!
Robert,
What are you gaining from your absurd comments! Why don’t you stop and think for a second… would anyone invent the story of a Genocide? Why would they do that? What exactly are you insinuating that we are hiding? Where is the Armenian population in Turkey that should have been over 10 million by now Robert? Where is Turkey hiding them? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, repeating the same vague innuendos to the descendants of the Genocide… You think the torture, rape, murder, loss of property of human beings is something to toy with and concoct imaginary conspiracy theories about? Don’t you get it… these things happened… and they happened to regular people… who happen to be our grandparents! We are not imagining or inventing anything… you are misinformed and blinded to the truth… If you were there with our ancestors on the road to the desert, with worned out shoes, with food being denied to them even when they could afford it, with regular whippings, bayoneting, rape, plunder and massacre… if you knew the truth the way it was lived by our grandparents who were orphaned and witnessed the murder of their relatives… if you knew the truth… you would apologize to us now on behalf of your country. Shame on you for constantly making a mockery of the murder of 1.5 million, unarmed and innocent women, men and children… shame on you for enjoying the spoils from the bank accounts, properties, farm lands, jewelry, money… and everything else that belonged to them… Yes Robert, what happened to the 1.5 million people’s assets?… the “house of lies” belongs to your government… If Turkey has not done anything wrong, can it please explain why it massacred a whole population of civilians… can it please explain what it did with their assets/properties…if there was no Genocide, why then does the Turkish governement persecutes anyone who talks about it?… because it has nothing to hide?
Shame on you…
Armenians in the diaspora and the homeland must realize that we are living in a time(thank God) of an active political and national campaign for our rights. Currently the Turkish government is engaged in an organized effort to create a public veneer of tolerence and respect for Armenians; avoiding their responsibilities of the genocide, western Armenia and the countless implications of their denial. It is sad to see an Armenian like Arzuni caught in this web. The only answer for him is to resist whatever his motivations are and to withdraw. No Armenian can partiicipate in an obvious ploy to display pseudo harmony.
Robert , what you continue to failure to either understand or accept is that , as Antranig Kasparian has stated, cross collaboration is normal but must have a foundation of integrity. I find it somewhat amusing when our astute community exposes your cheap and superficial tactics, there is an angry reaction accusing the Armenians, especially the diaspora of ridculous motivations. It’s an interesting irony,,,, isn’t it. Remember the saying what goes around comes around… the Ottoman Turkish policies of genocide essentially created the diaspora. It was their hope to kill all Armenians and whoever survived would be economically disadvantaged(thanks to the looting of your government) and assimilate within a generation or two.
Well, how did that work out for you!!! 95 years later Armenia is free, Artsakh is free , the diaspora is active , our cause remains alive and all of this is Talaat’s worst nightmare. The only thing that hasn’t changed is continuing denial by your government . Sounds like you need an upgrade!!
It’s not about Mr. Arzruni and his talent. Nor is it about Mr. Arzruni being a nice person. It’s about a sly and easily detectable Turkish move at creating a facade of religious “tolerance” and humanistic “respect” for Armenians that’s aimed at avoiding responsibility for the genocide. I suspect such moves (one-day Mass at Akhtamar and Armenian pianist’s concert in NY) could also be tacitly supported by outside players who think rapprochement between the Turks and Armenians short of the genocide recognition would be ideal and much less burdensome for their geopolitical interests, too. Well, how gravely are they mistaken… The event must be boycotted. Moreover, it must be used to make noise about true Turkish intentions. Rapprochement will happen only when Turks admit the guilt. We will never stop.
Excuse me, what “celebration of the Akhtamar ‘reopening’?” Wasn’t a house of worship turned into a museum and then allowed by “gracious” and so “compassionate” Turkish authorities to function for just two hours as a church, and then was closed again? What are the Turks “celebrating” with a concert in NY? Ridiculous, cheap Turkish masquerade…
Hye, Mr. Evans, I agree, there is not any question of the talents of our Sahan, it may be that the timing, the Turkish misuse of our ancient church as a museum, and so many of the PLOYS and diversions/distraction/deceits which Turks hurl at Armenians in order to avoid their admissions of the Turkish Genocide of the Armenian nation. Turks use whatever, whenever, protocols, road maps, church/museum, and so many more – thus I cannot but feel that this is just another timely Turk PLOY – see world, look Sahan is with us – he is performing for us… See, we get along with the Armenians – we never committed the Genocides… Too, Turks lied when their road maps project failed yet Turks represented to the world (even inept USA State Department) that these were still ongoing… in their dreams! I do believe the timing is not the best for Sahan, but very timely, undeservedly for the Turkish state! Manooshag
HYe, Sahan can perform in New York city at the Armenian Cathedral… Manooshag
Davia Z. is right. Turkey is celebrating prematurely an event which is in the making but not yet achieved: the restoring of an ancient Armenian Church, cross erected, jurisdiction returned to the patriarchate of Istanbul, schedule of services to be freely determined by the faithful and hymns sung, candles lit and prayers said as the spirit moves in those who enter its sanctuary. Sahan Ardzuni’s talent and ethnicity are being exploited by Turkey and he should wait for the real celebration.
Katia et al,
Would you all like it if we constantly demanded, saying that we were entitled, and that it was our right to remove any scheduled entertainer(s) from the Armenian Consulate? How about from the MGM in Las Vegas (which is owned by Kirk Krikorian)? How about from an Armenian hotel/casino in illegally occupied Karabagh? What if we did this everytime (sticking our noses into others internal affairs)?
Robert – It’s much deeper and much more serious than a mere removal of a scheduled entertainer from a concert at a Consulate. It’s about denouncing the cheap Turkish dog-and-pony show with renovating the ancient Armenian church; allowing it to function as a house of worship just for two hours on September 19 with no cross atop; and then closing the church again to function as a “museum.” And how about if any Christian nation copied this humiliating Turkish behavior and transformed a mosque into a museum, or blew it up, or transformed it to a church or, even worse, to a sheepcot as you can find in thousands if you travel to Armenian vilayets in Turkey? How about that? Don’t you understand that the concert “celebrating” the Akhtamar “reopening” is a buffoonery, because a concert can’t celebrate what doesn’t exist. Does the reopened Armenian Christian church of Akhtamar exist? No. A Turkish museum exists. What are you “celebrating” by a concert for which you cunningly invited a pianist of Armenian decent? It’s a buffoonery that we oppose. It’s the point-scoring with the West in presenting a Turkey miraculously transformed from oppressive, xenophobic, and genocidal to “religiously tolerant” and “democratic” country that we oppose. After all, Armenians were not born yesterday, you know…
Robert you’re so good at playing dumb sometimes, it makes me wonder if you really are playing dumb at all…
Robert, Armenians have no other choice, but put their noses into Kemalist like you, who secretly financing millions of Turkish taxpayers money into pocket of false scholars to cover up the cost and guilt of “Genocide”…brainless Turk like you are the joke of the world!!
Civil rights center apologizes to scholar over Armenian genocide charges
Grish,
Thank you for providing the link in your post. I suggest that all of you go to the link and read the story carefully.
Robert,
I wonder why Turks rely so much on Bruce Fein and associate, to win cases for them..he must have good connection with higher-up…may be Sibel Edmond knows a lot that we still do not know what happening behind the doors…anyway you like to distract peoples’ minds away from the truth of Armenian Genocide… it is good to listen and understand the concept of Armenian Genocide for Turkish Government….
Rastî: SIBEL EDMONDS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND THE KURDS
Former FBI Translator On Armenian Genocide
Robert,
The nosy diaspora hasn’t gone so far as to obsessively post and whine in Turkish English-language (or even Turkish-language) publications like you do here. It’s like every time I read an article on this website – no matter how trivial – there you are, with more of your hot air. I’d ask you to cease, but I’m not going to (and you wouldn’t anyway), because your behavior and hectoring, accusatory tone perfectly exemplifies what it’s like for an Armenian diasporan to engage with most Turks.
Excuse me people, but why are all your speeches full of hatreds and agression? If you are such Armenian patriotics, why don’t you go and support the protests, and activism of Armenians in Turkey? Why the hell has noone ever cared about the Armenians residing in Turkey? Of course, the drum beats better from far away. You are just some puppets in the hands of your trainers. No real action but only speaking. Where were you when Hrant was murdered? Where are you every year when we are all in the streets protesting Hrant’s bloody massacre? Where are you when we are riping our asses apart trying to establish conferences at universities in Turkey, opposing the state official (his)tory? You are a bunch of NOTHING doing NOTHING… And thank you for all your SUPPORT (?)
Dear Ali,
you know and I know, “Hrant Dink syndromes” is fully effective to Armenians in Turkey, with the help of Allah’s code 301….it is hard to be in a civilized country, where radicals such as Ergenokons and Kemalist are fully alert and have control over none radicals…
Turkey’s democratization should remain in the hands of ordinary Turkish people not Armenians or foreigners..we can not demonstrate in Turkey, where school children, who brain washed by Turkish authorities to be “anti Armenians” and plus we don’t want to be labeled as “Russian or British or American spies”
Ali, I bet you are a sincere and moderate Turkish national…this will bring hope and admiration of not only from Armenians, but all peace loving nations of the world..