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Returning Churches, Restoring Rights: An Interview with Aram Hamparian
The Armenian Weekly conducted an interview with Aram Hamparian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), on H.Res.306, the Return of Churches Resolution, introduced on June 15. Below is the interview.
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dear aram hamparian-
i believe that the armenian communities in canada and the u.s. should work together on this very important issue.
how can this be done.
sincerely
gerard paraghamian
Where is the Government of Western Armenia?
And who has the necessary human and financial resources to take possession,
administer, renovate and ensure the functionality of these institutions.
Resolution, recognition, even return of Confiscated Churches, could become
meaningless if there is no trained cadre of strong willed, dedicated, and well
provisioned people on the ground who are able to keep what is rightfully
theirs.
Look at your AGBU in the midst of an ongoing Greek Cypriot and Turkish
Cypriot conflict they literally abandoned an Armenian Institution, and no one
has guts to bring them to justice!
The only people Mr.Hamparian speaks to are the same people he speaks for. Everyone knows this is all about revenge not justice, and that is not very moral at all. And finally, existentially speaking, Turkey is here to stay. Get used to it.
Hello, “Secular Turk” who is speaking for himself… And what IS moral: mass murdering innocent women, children, and the elders? Forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands indigenous people who lived on their native lands for millennia? Torturing, mutilating, burning and burying people alive? Raping girls in front of their fathers and families? Stealing other people’s hard-earned wealth, houses, pastures, properties, and bank accounts? Or denying all these genocidal crimes for decades and avoiding responsibility for them is moral? Or demanding justice for all these barbarian crimes is immoral?
“Turkey is here to stay. Get used to it”, says a secular Turk. And since he is a Turk, I bet he never is or will be capable of asking himself: just how Turkey positioned itself “there to stay”? He would never look deeper and acknowledge that Turkey is there as a result of Seljuk nomadic intrusions into the area and Ottoman barbarians’ colonization and consequent annihilation of all native inhabitants of those lands. I’d be ashamed if my ancestors mass exterminated people and stole their cultural achievements and wealth. But “secular Turks” appear to take pride of their predecessors’ barbarism. That’s why they are called simply: Turks. Even without elaborating on the word, we know what it essentially means.
i can assure you are living in a different planet.turks aren’t ashamed of their nation.but even our voices aren’t allowed to be heard in this thiny paper unless it serves your benefit.this is the armenian american type of freedom of speech.of course you should carry on speaking about freedom of speech in turkey.then you say shut your mouth, end of the story. If this is the case i can only wish you a tough luck
Good point Gerard. The Armenian community in Canada should also devise a similar Bill as H. Res 306. After all PM Harper has recognized the Armenian Genocide and the Armenian community helped secure his much coveted majority in parliament a few months ago. Its time to reciprocate with an easy want on behalf of the Canadian Armenian community.
I think it is only fair that secilar Turk that started an interesting dialogue should defines a bit more elaborately his statement
“Everyone knows this is all about revenge not justice, and that is not very moral at all.”
Who is everbody??? The world, all Turks without exception or all Armenians without exception?
Second the dialoguer should explain in his words what is Justice ? Is it his justice? Is it American Justice? Is it Turkish or ottoman Justice? Is it the International Court of Human rights Justice?
When one is ready to really dialogue, they should first realize that Truth cannot be subjective but only Objective.
Secular Turk,
Why don’t you take look at yourself in the mirror? If you see someone with asiatic features then you can claim as “Secular Turk”. If you don’t then you should ask yourself how you came to be like that?? Could it be that one of your ancestors was raped during the Genocide??
re. Turkey is here to stay.
You seem a little worried about turkey not being around for long.
I am appreciative with the ANCAs breath of activism. Many of you have commented on the importance of the return of our stolen church properties on this site as we witnessed the Akhtamar incident, the Turkish nationalists praying at Ani and the disgrace of the Elle walkway in the Holy Virgin Cathedral. This initiative has several benefits:
1. It is a clear reminder of the failure of Turkey to live up to it’s obligations according to the Treaty of Lausanne.
2. This failure is a post genocide, post Ottoman, “modern” Turkey responsibility.
3. It is a pure example of the continuing cultural genocide of the Armenian
historic rights in eastern Turkey
4. It is another example to validate our rights in Western Armenia to the world, to
the Turks and to the legal entitites
5. It provides a valuable mechanism to keep our young generation connected in a
real way to the importance of our stolen property and land in western Armenia
6. It gives the Gencode reolution additional fuel with flank support on related issues by showing the disingenuous nature of Turkey.
7. It is focused on returning our holy sites where Armenian Chrsitians can visit and pray in these sacred edices.
Let’s get behind this.
Zaven, today, all the world over, our diasporans need to connect as never before.
Today. Today, since a Turkey has divulged/shown their true nature to the world – their true nature of muslim Turks – for all the world to know, to recognize – their inhumanity to humans – all their continued efforts to erase all that was of the ancient and advanced sites of the Armenian nation ongoing/unending. Attempting to distract from the fact that they committed the Genocides, slaughterings, rapings, kidnappings, and more – too, still lying to themselves, to their own students/citizens, and all the civilized nations – but their guilt speaks cannot be denied – even today, as all the whitened bones of the slaughtered… unburied – still.
Gerard, yes, our Armenian communities in Canada and the USA united… Too, are not all the diasporan Armenians not to be included – today – united, miaseen!!
Stepan: On the other hand, there’s a risk of being betrayed again by the US policymakers after we get behind this. This happened in many instances in the past, Pelosi’s reluctance to introduce the genocide bill being the most recent. The US needs such legislative processes in order to keep up pressure on Turkey, while giving Armenians nothing in the end. Why do we buy this so cheaply?
Merhaba Secular Turk;
No you are sorely wrong, Mr.Hamparian speaks for all people who want Human Rights and Freedom to express their religion or belief.
I am sorry you don’t understand that the land that is now known as ROT Republic of Turkey est. 1923 was in fact a Christian country some 11 centuries before the arrival and subsequent invasion and destruction of the Mongolian Ottoman Turks from Central Asia. Just take a peak at the ancient structures still left in ROT, whose hands built these?
No one said Turkey was not “here to stay” but our religious structures have the right to be maintained and owned by the people who built them. Very sorry your country keeps this important part of history from you. However, Pontus Greeks, Greeks, Alevis, Armenians, Assryians, Kurds, Yedzkis, etc., all have a right to our buildings and beliefs.
What do you want to do, invade all our buildings change them to Mosques or museums like our great St. Hagia Sophia? then continue changing the names like Constaniople to Istanbul? You can keep denying, kept trying to change the names or history but the truth remains.
Mr. Hamparian speaks for many secular Turks who don’t like their governmental controls over the indigenous people. Get use to it.
Hopefully this decision will turn Turkey’s reputation around in the eyes of the world and you may gain entry into the civilized world of the EU. But till ROT can correct their numerous human rights violations it is unlikely Turkey or the good people of Turkey will gain respect from the educated world.
to: armenian4life
well put my friend. you deserve an answer from merhaba secular turk, but he is probably so illiterate that he would not know where to start. i hear the schools in turkey are not so good thus explaining the ignorance of these weirdos.
gerard
Kudos to ANCA for this and their activism on Darfur.
Gerard, schools in Turkey teach students to hate the Armenians ongoing… blaming Armenians as the murderers (whereas Turkeys involvement in WWI – which a Turkey was losing together with its allies – Turks were attacked by their WWI enemies – not the unarmed Armenians. Their youth, at the last two April 24ths observances (in Washington DC) were absolutely wild. This year Armenians, in mourning, wore tapes across their mouths – gagged themselves. Still, the Turks behaved as though they were at a joyous event as they shouted, danced to music, pointed vile fingers, truly pleased and enjoying themselves – Then welcomed back into their Embassy building – believing that they had made a great advance for a Turkey – in the capital city of the USA!!
They must not realize stupidty of their acts, by their youth by their Embassy.
Their inhumanity knows no ends… is still mentality of the Turk hordes of Asia.
Imagine, in a Turkey they honor and revere the trio who planned and perpetrated the Turkish Genocide of the Armenian nation via slaughters, rapes, kidnappings and all the tortures that the Turk mentality could devised, such as, hammering horse’s hooves into the soles of the feet of the victims,, raping the Armenian women before all their families – then slaughtered them – Turkish style.
@Secular Turks
Forget the label of “sick man of Europe”? It was labeled to your people for a reason. Also, its just a matter of time before the US also calls it a genocide which means COMPENSATION…. You know for all the theft that your people are good at needs to be accounted for. Your Zionist masters can’t protect you for ever.
GET USED TO IT!
john and manooshag- yes someone on this blog explained that the turks of today are OK ! when i went to turkey a few years ago, i saw a people that always seem to be upset or mad at somthing, their eyes were dark. i went to see the people that murdered my great granparents.
we are gettig closer and closer.
john- right on, but we still need obama, he does not seem to hold much importance on promises. we should spend a lot of time on the legal side. that usually works well .
gerard
It is rare that Turkish authorities spend money on renovation of the monuments that belong to the indigenous people of the land, but when the issue is related in preserving the Ottoman era relics, Turkish government can dump Billions of Dollars to keep them alive.
This is a short list of renovated and restored buildings:
Mostar Bridge Restoration (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Belgrade Sheikh Mustafa Tomb (Serbia)
Prizren Sinan Pasha Mosque (Kosovo)
Parruce Mosque (Albania)
Osmanbasiç Mosque (Montenegro)
Mustafa Pasha Mosque (Macedonia)
Budapest Gül Baba Tomb (Hungary)
Razgrad Makbul İbrahim Pasha (Bulgaria)
Hafeez Ahmed Pasha Library (Greece)
Haji Giray Khan Tomb (Ukraine)
Sarı Saltuk Tomb (Romania)
Damascus Süleymaniye Complex (Syria)
Eastern Tripoli Mawlawi Shrine (Lebanon)
Al-Aqsa Springs (Palestine)
Ottoman works (Sudan)
Ottoman Ghar al Melh Castle (Tunisia)