1079) Let Us Meet With The Zoryan Institute

By Özdemir Ince, Hurriyet, September 24, 2006, the following article was translated from Turkish by the Zoryan Institute, which does not necessarily agree with nor endorse the contents of the article

They all want to make me puke - Article 301 of the Penal Code, the trial of Elif Shafak, the defense, the prosecutor, the people who express opinions on the trial, all of them. . .

My poor Turkey, my poor bleeding country!

How come the Justice Ministry of this government does not prepare an Implementation Guideline for Article 301, even though they do everything in order to paralyze the Revolutionary Laws?

How come the EU and the mouthpieces of the European Parliament do not want an Implementation Guide for Article 301 but insist on the outright abolition of this Article? And our government keeps on insisting that they won't abolish it. I think there is a pre-meditated cooperation here. The ones that really make me puke are our human rights defenders, democracy apostles and their followers... This group, which neglects criticizing the current AKP government but instead targets the Republic when it comes to Article 301, labels as Fascist and Kemalist all supporters of the Republic and its reforms.

There is also the group that really went to extremes like the SS as court reporters in the name of nationalism and patriotism. They are also the natural actors in this carnival!

When I was thinking and getting distressed about all this, I learned from Ruhat Mengi's editorial (Vatan newspaper, 20.09.06) that Article 301 defendant Elif Shafak had said: "When I went to the US, the Zoryan Institute educated me, and I solved the Genocide problem." I had read something about this elsewhere, but I had forgotten. I always get stressed when I see the name of the instigator Zoryan Institute. Since this institute showed the true path to Elif Shafak, let me give you some facts about it:

The Zoryan Institute (the Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Research and Documentation) was founded in 1982 in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US. There is also a Canadian Zoryan Institute (The Zoryan Institute of Canada), founded in 1984.

These two institutes form an academic centre to do research, archive and distribute information and documents about the recent history of the Armenians.

The activities of the Zoryan Institute are grouped into three areas: Genocide project, Diaspora project, Armenia project. To this end, the Institute supports multi-disciplinary academic research, documentation, conferences and publications. This is what it is in appearance...

As a first service, in 1984 the Zoryan Institute contributed as a sponsor of the Armenian Genocide Court, which was known by the term "Permanent Peoples."

According to its Internet website, the Zoryan Institute prepared a convincing report in 1999 about the Armenian Genocide as requested by the Canadian Parliamentary sub-committee. As you know, the Canadian Parliament accepted the Armenian genocide, based on this report.

Again in 1999, the US House of Representatives requested the Zoryan Institute to prepare a report deflating the statements of the Turkish Ambassador in Washington, who had denied the Armenian genocide.

Taner Akçam's books spewing hatred toward Turkey are among the most important publications of the Institute. As I had written before, aren't there other publishers who would publish Taner Akçam? And this is the kind of organization that trains Elif Shafak on how to write novels.

05 October 2006
Azg