Soykırım Tacirleri ve Gercekleri – Turk Aleytari ve Tarafsiz Yabanci Belgelerle Diaspora Yalanlarinin Icyuzu. By Turkish Businesman Sukru Server Aya
Istanbul Ticaret Odasi, 19 Ocak 2009, Monday
The program was on the presentation of a book in Turkish and the language of the program and the speakers were also in Turkish. This commentary on the book and the presentation is in English for the benefit of readers in America and other countries.
The primary purpose of Sukru Aya . .
in publishing his book in English was to inform the foreigners (students, media members, businessmen, legislators, the public, etc.) on a subject which has been told to the world through fabrications, distortions and out right lies. An example of this was a poster displayed at the university’s reception area was a manipulated photograph of Mustafa Kemal.
Tomorrow Senator Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and judging from his campaign speeches, he will state that the Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians, which is a lie as shown in Sukru Aya’s book.
The program started around 11:00 AM in the Conference Room of the Istanbul Commerce University where there were over 80 participants, including the Honorary Chairman of Koc Holding Rahmi Koc, Miss Europe of 1952, Gunseli Basar, Sami Kohen from Milliyet, Tufan Gunes from Hurriyet, Ruhat Mengi from Vatan and other media members and many dignitaries. There were also three Tarsus American High School graduates, Nabi Eren and Yucel. There were very few students and most of the participants were over the age of 50, an observation also noted by Commerce University Rector Ates Vuran during his opening remarks.
Opening Speeches
The first speaker was Lawyer Elif Derbeder representing the brave publisher of the book, Derin Yayinlari. She said that her company strives to publish books in different subjects.
The second speaker was Lawyer Kegam Karabetyan who also wrote the Preface to the book. He made a passionate speech, first stating that he was an Armenian Turks originally from Kastamonu and now lives in Istanbul, practicing law and getting involved in community projects. Referring to the sad events in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Karabetyan stated that some Armenians were used by the Western powers for their own purposes, specifically the Russians, the French and the British, and that he was here to tell the truth. He said that he met Sukru Aya at a conference where the former head of the Turkish Historical Society Yusuf Halacoglu was a speaker. He ended his remarks with Ataturk’s famous saying, ‘’Ne Mutlu Turkum Diyene.’’
The Rector of Commerce Universty, Ates Vuran, began his remarks with a reminiscence of an experience at the VIP Lounge at the JFK Airport, in fact in the WC, where he noticed Rahmi Koc. After saying hello to Rahmi Koc, Vuran told him how much he appreciated the service at his newly opened stored in the US and wanted to share this with him. After he arrived to Istanbul, he received a letter from Rahmi Koc with a copy of the note that he sent to the store owner, thanking for his remarks. Than the Rector told about his experience and the difficulties that he encountered in publish ‘’Genocide of Truth’’ which he sent to University libraries in Turkey, Europe and the US.
Rector Vuran stated that he read the book himself and also had it reviewed by the Turkish Historical Society. Finding the book to be very useful, he had the university sponsor the first printing of 3,000 and distributed to University libraries, media members and sent 500 copies to various universities and media groups in the US.
The next speaker listed on the program was Bulent Akarcali who has been instrumental in convincing Sukru Aya to publish the book. Unfortunately he was not in attendance, probably working on his strategy to win the race for the Mayor of Cankaya as a candidate from AKP.. In his place, Prof. Dr. Orhan Cekic made an excellent presentation, including a summary of the decision of the European Council of Justice (Avrupa Adalet Divani) on the lawsuit brought against the EU by an Armenian organisation in France on the Armenian issue, denying their request that Turkey admit genocide as a condition for EU membership, asking them to bring forth a Court decision on the Genocide, which of course does not exist. Prof. Cekic also mentioned that bad things are taking place such as the murder of Hrant Dink on Jan 19, 2007 and the murder of Turkish diplomat Bahadir Demir in California on Jan 27, 1973.
Sukru Aya’s Presentation
Sukru Aya also made a very passionate speech, first stating that participants from Cyprus, Bursa, Adapazari and othet cities had come for the program. He presented background information on the publication of the English version of his book, which he said had not received the proper attention from the media or the public, stating that since April 14, 2008, only 4 review of his book has been published. Sukru Aya made reference to the Armenian revolts starting with the Zeytoon uprising in 1859, followed by many others including the revolt in Maras in 1895.
Question and Answer Session
Before the question and answer session, a short documentary was shown on the atrocities committed by Armenian rebels and the events that led to the re-location in 915. Afterwards, Ruhat Mengi from Vatan took to the podium and objected to Sukru Aya’s statement that the media has not shown enough involvement in the Armenian issue, giving her own struggle as an example, even having to defend her writings in court, especially in a case started by Halil Berktay. She referred to the efforts of Yusuf Halacoglu, wondering why he was dismissed as the head of the Turkish Historical Society who has invited Armenian historians for meetings but were ignored. Than Ruhat Mengi made reference to the ‘’Apology campaign’’, stating that those who started it had close connections with the Armenian diaspora.
After Ruhat Mengi finished her comments, I looked around to see if anyone from AGOS newspaper was in the room, the largest circulating Armenian weekly in Istanbul. Quite by coincidence, today was the 2nd anniversary of the murder of Hrant Dink, the founder and the publisher of the Armenian newspaper. There were commemoration services at his grave and other places and almost all newspapers covered the story, including Birgun with a full front page photograph of Hrant Dink and the funeral procession in the full back page, which I had also participated in. In an open letter to Turkish readers published in AGOS (9 Jan 2009), Jean Kehayan wrote that those who were signing the apology statement were ‘’Turkey’s Pride.’’
It will be interesting to see if Birgun and other newspapers will cover this very meaningful and important book presentation. I am sure Ruhat Mengi and others who came to the presentation will. I wonder if the Turkish Daily News (now known as the Hurriyet Daily News) will write about this as they had covered a conference at Bilgi University last year where Sarafian was the star attraction and was given a copy of ‘’Genocide of Truth’’ by Sukru Aya but never mentioned it in any of his endless papers.
The first question was by Rahmi Koc.. ‘’What do you think Barack Obama will do on the Armenian issue.’’ I missed the answer but yesterday, ANCA sent a letter to Senator Obama which should answer Rahmi Koc’s question. (copy of the letter si given below which shows how the Armenian diaspora works closely. I am afraid Senator Obama will support the Armenian Genocide Resolution when he is the 44th President of the USA.
Unfortunately I could not stay until the end of the program due to other commitments but took the box of borek and baklava with me which I enjoyed while driving to Esenyurt. Thank you Sukru Bey and his assistant Serpil Hanim for her contributions.
Yuksel Oktay
20 January 2009
January 17, 2009
The Honorable Barack Obama
The President-elect
Office of the President-elect
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President-Elect:
We are writing, as the collective leadership of Armenian American advocacy, civic, religious, charitable, and educational organizations, to congratulate you on your historic election as President of the United States and to warmly welcome your inauguration to this high office. On behalf of some two million Americans of Armenian heritage, we look forward to working with you and your Administration to end the cycle of genocide, strengthen U.S.-Armenia relations, contribute to Armenia's economic growth, and work toward a fair and sustainable regional peace.
We have, as a community, long admired your principled commitment to ending genocide, including, of course, the need for urgent efforts to stop the ongoing slaughter in Darfur. As a vital part of the growing genocide-prevention movement, our community looks forward to working with you from the first day of your Administration to end the Darfur Genocide and to help bring peace to this troubled land.
As a community, we have been proud that you have stood with us as we have worked toward Congressional commemoration, Presidential recognition, and Turkish acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. As you have stated so eloquently and repeatedly, the facts of this crime are undeniable. The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, as the Turkish government shamefully contends, but rather a widely documented mass crime supported by an overwhelming body of evidence. Confronting this denial represents an obligation for America and the entire international community. Our nation's commitment to the principles of the Genocide Convention, which just last year marked its 60th anniversary, is rooted in America's values and cannot be sincerely upheld in our relations with the rest of the world without an outright recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Our government must clearly and unequivocally condemn the 1915 crime of race extermination by Ottoman Turkey that, during the course of eight years, killed one and a half million Armenians, emptied vast areas of the Armenian homeland, and inflicted grave material harm to every aspect of the Armenian people's cultural heritage, depriving it, to this day, of its right to exist on its native soil. Sadly, the inevitable consequence of Turkey's refusal to acknowledge this crime has been its inability to adapt to the changing realities in the region. Rather than being a factor for peace, Turkey has actively contributed to increased tension in the South Caucasus. Instead of demonstrating a willingness to honestly confront the past in the spirit of truth and justice, its leaders have sought to pressure other governments to underwrite Turkey's historic guilt. The United States should neither be a hostage to Turkey's fears, nor a victim of its moral failings. For its part, Armenia, which supports international recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a core element of its foreign policy, has called for the normalization of relations with Turkey without any preconditions.
As you have stated on several occasions, America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. The clarity of your promise is particularly welcome in light of the unfortunate practice of past U.S. Presidents to use, under Turkey's pressure, evasive and euphemistic terminology rather than directly acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. The term, Armenian Genocide, is the only one that can meaningfully be used to characterize the crime committed by Ottoman Turkey. We look forward, in the coming weeks, to your firm and principled leadership in clearly and unambiguously ending the sad chapter of the U.S. Executive Branch's capitulation to pressure from Turkey.
We are particularly encouraged, in this regard, that you will be joined in your Administration by supporters of Armenian Genocide recognition, among them Vice President-elect Joe Biden, a 35-year champion of this human rights issue, and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, who, in January of last year, so eloquently stated that, "our common morality and our nation's credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by Congress and the President of the United States." Others in your Administration, including incoming Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and CIA Director Leon Panetta have also supported Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We are also pleased to see that the Congress will be led by two of the most longstanding advocates of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, both of whom have repeatedly called for full U.S. recognition of this crime against humanity. We look forward to your leadership with these officials and others in Congress, among them Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, John Kerry, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Howard Berman, to help bring about Congressional recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
We look forward to continuing, over the next four years, the active engagement that we established with you and your leadership team during your service in the U.S. Senate, and more recently during your campaign for the Presidency. Among the issues that will, of course, remain as high priorities on our common agenda will be those that contribute to the growth of U.S.-Armenia relations, Armenia's economic development, and Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh's security. We welcome your commitment to expanding bilateral commercial, political, military, and cultural relations, and are eager to work with you to increase U.S.-Armenia trade and investment levels and to expand our development assistance programs, through the FREEDOM Support Act, the Millennium Challenge Account, and other avenues. We place, as well, a very high priority on U.S. leadership in lifting the Turkish and Azerbaijani economic blockades of Armenia and in ending the exclusion of Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh from regional commercial and infrastructure projects.
In terms of ensuring a durable regional peace, we echo your call for a Nagorno Karabagh settlement that respects democracy and self-determination and encourage you to ensure that these principles serve as the pillars of any agreement. As you know, a vital key to peace, in Nagorno Karabagh and around the world, is direct dialogue. For this reason, we encourage elimination of all artificial barriers to U.S.-Nagorno Karabagh contacts, communication, and other means of increasing our level of mutual understanding. With Azerbaijan's President once again threatening war, as recently as in his New Year's message, it is more important than ever for the United States to strengthen the current ceasefire, to work through the OSCE process to secure the commitment of all parties to the disavowal of force, and, as a matter of high priority for our government, to take concrete steps to prevent a renewed war in the South Caucasus. Our ability to advance these and our nation's many other interests in this strategically pivotal region would be substantially enhanced by a concerted effort on the part of our government to expand U.S.-Armenia relations.
Working with you and your White House, Department of State, and Pentagon staffs on all of these issues, we will, as you stated in your remarks this past January 19th, "build, in new and exciting ways, upon the enduring ties and shared values that have bound together the American and Armenian peoples for more than a century."
Thank you for your consideration of the priorities we have raised in this letter and for your years of friendship with the Armenian American community. The enthusiastic and broad-based support the Obama-Biden ticket received from Armenian Americans during the campaign, including endorsements from all our leading civic groups and newspapers, reflects our community's confidence in your leadership and ardent support for the real change that you have pledged in how our government acts on all these issues.
We join together in warmly welcoming your victory and look forward to working with your Administration. In this spirit, we stand ready to meet with you to discuss these issues in greater detail and also to address the challenges facing our nation both at home and abroad.
Sincerely,
Apostolic Exarchate for Armenian Catholics
Armenian Bar Association
Armenian Evangelical Union of North America
Armenian General Benevolent Union
Armenian International Women's Association
Armenian Missionary Association of America
Armenian National Committee of America
Armenian Relief Society
Armenian Rights Council of America
Armenian Youth Federation
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern U.S.)
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Western U.S.)
Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural & Education Association
Homenetmen Armenian General Athletic Union
Knights of Vartan
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Eastern U.S.)
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Western U.S.)
Tekeyan Cultural Association, Inc.
United Armenian Fund
U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee
. .
Koc Holding's Honarary President Rahmi Koc, Istanbul Ticaret University Dean Prof. Dr. Ates Vuran, Prof. Dr. Orhan Çekic, Lawyer Kagam Karabetyan, several ex-ambassadors, scholars, reputed columnists such as Tufan Turenc, Sami Kohen, Ruhat Mengi, several persons from the business sector, or other book writers as well few Turkish Armenian friends were among the attendees.
The PP presentation in Turkish was followed by “open questions from the audience” which were read and answered. The presentation which started at 11 a.m. ended at 2 pm, with a light buffet of self-service “borek, baklava, ayran, coffee and tea”.
Sukru Server Aya says that “at this time, the foreign documents open to all in the web site of Armenians-1915.blogspot.com give evidence to the treason of Armenian gang leaders and exhibits the extravagant demands of the representatives of Armenian governments. Furthermore, the joint resolution of USA Senate-Congress of 1922 there is no sharp mention of bilateral atrocities and almost thanks Turks. This resolution was accepted unanimously and according to this document at the end of 1921 a total of 1.414.000 Armenians are declared to be alive. The total Armenian population in 1914 was about 1.3 to 1.5 millions and hence this document belies that 1 or 1.5 million Armenians were murdered by Turks by a genocide.
The book “Soykırım Tacirleri ve Gercekler” (Genocide Traders and Truths) published by DERIN publishing house, is an explanatory version in Turkish, of the book “The Genocide of Truth” (700 Pages) reduced to about 500 pages by omission of some sections.
The explanations given in the book based on overseas sources, as a thumb rule, have been excerpted from neutral or anti-Turkish books and documents mostly written in English and the source of each excerpt or commentary has been shown. A large majority of the foreign documents or sources used in the book, have not been used by other researchers and show the backstage of the incidents directly from their own documents or writings.
The overall picture exhibited by mosaic style documents and excerpts, give evidence that there was no aim – benefit – numbers – time – location – murder tools – neutral eyewitnesses – corpse – authentic document – legal investigations – decision of an authorized court and alike minimal evidences and that the incident is totally nothing but an unproven rumor.
Sukru Server Aya, as the writer of the two books, says that because of the insufficiencies and contradictions of the publications on this subject, and further to his knowledge of about twenty years on this topic, he has scanned some 30.000 pages in the past five years and submits the information on respective matters by presenting excerpts and foreign references, leaving the judgment to the reader, avoiding solid conclusions.
According to the writer, because of his attachment to several friends and beloved persons of Armenian ethnicity, he has elaborated the subject not from the standpoint of national ideology, but from the virtue of global ethics and decency. This study, in a sense shows that some scholars do not study matters in sufficient depth and width and exhibits a personal reaction of a reader and the difficulties and solitude of defending truths and leaves the conclusion to the reader.
We Congratulate Sukru Server Aya On His Book "Soykirim Tacirleri ve Gercekler" and would like him to continue to further his investigative research work.
The English Edition is freely available to Download Here
Updated 7 Jul 2014
Download the Turkish Edition - "Soykirim Tacirleri ve Gercekler"
19.01.09 .
Photos are kindly provided by Milliyet Newspaper
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