U.S. RAMP UP CALLS FOR TURKEY TO MAKE REPARATIONS.Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer Demanding justice for a 1915 genocide in the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire (ŏt`əmən), vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. , Armenian-Americans in April protested and held vigils to call for an end to mass murder. Tied to those actions was the demand for an apology from the Turkish government, which denies a genocide occurred. Protesters renewed those calls throughout the month, but a simple apology for the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million people wouldn't be enough for many in the Armenian community. They want land and reparations reparations, payments or other compensation offered as an indemnity for loss or damage. Although the term is used to cover payments made to Holocaust survivors and to Japanese Americans interned during World War II in so-called relocation camps (and used as well to , demands Turkey has ignored. ``Just admitting to the crime would only be half the equation,'' said Zanku Armenian, spokesman for the Armenian National Committee of America's western region. ``When there's a crime, there has to be a consequence to it in order to deter future such crimes.'' Armenians lived in what is now eastern Turkey for centuries before being driven out in 1915, so they expect Turkey to transfer some of that land to neighboring Armenia. Taking a cue from Germany's payment of more than $60 billion to Jewish Holocaust survivors There are many famous Holocaust survivors who survived the Nazi genocides in Europe and went on to achievements of great fame and notability. Those listed here were, at the very least, residents of the parts of Europe occupied by the Axis powers during World War II who survived , Armenians say Turkey should pay reparations, too. Turkish officials show no signs of bowing to the demands. ``Did the American government officially pay billions of dollars as reparations to the Indians?'' said Engin Ansay, Turkey's consul general to Los Angeles. Armenia and Turkey should be trading goods, not barbs barbs the primary, delicate filaments that are given off the shaft of a bird's contour feather. They project from the rachis and bear the barbules. , Ansay said. ``If we have a dialogue with the Armenians and we normalize normalize to convert a set of data by, for example, converting them to logarithms or reciprocals so that their previous non-normal distribution is converted to a normal one. the relations, the borders are open and the Armenians have access to the Turkish ports, they will make at least $2 billion a year,'' Ansay said. ``So in 10 years they make $20 billion out of it. ... That is so much more than any reparation Compensation for an injury; redress for a wrong inflicted. The losing countries in a war often must pay damages to the victors for the economic harm that the losing countries inflicted during wartime. These damages are commonly called military reparations. amount.'' At an annual protest last Monday in front of the Turkish consulate in Los Angeles, the crowd of about 3,000 demonstrators didn't support more trade with Turkey. In fact, they carried signs calling for a boycott of Turkish goods. One protester carried a sign that read ``Ararat Belongs to Armenia,'' referring to a mountain with religious and national significance to Armenians that is visible from Armenia's capital city but sits just beyond the border -- in Turkey. Glendale school board member Greg Krikorian, who is of Armenian descent and stood with the protesters, echoed the demand. ``We've been walking (in demonstrations) for years, from Los Angeles to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to Detroit to Boston to Washington, D.C.,'' he said. ``We not only want recognition of the genocide, we demand Mount Ararat back and our homeland back.'' For Jews, accepting reparations from Germany proved controversial for years, said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center  This article is currently semi-protected to prevent sock puppets of currently blocked or banned users from editing it. . Some Holocaust survivors considered the payments ``blood money'' and refused to take them, but payments were a help to others, he said. ``There's no question that part of the price tag of, if you will, the re-emergence of Germany into the family of nations is they had to find a way for reparations and restitutions to the survivors.'' Many Armenian-Americans expect the same from Turkey. ``The loss is irreparable. It's a destruction of an entire nation and all its cultural and material possessions on the land on which it had lived for 3,000 years, and I don't think you can put a price on that,'' said Richard Hovannisian, a professor at University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , and chairman of modern Armenian history at the school. ``What I do believe is that there have to be certain acts of contrition con·tri·tion n. Sincere remorse for wrongdoing; repentance. See Synonyms at penitence. Noun 1. contrition - sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation contriteness, attrition and restitution on the Turkish side.'' alex.dobuzinski@dailynews.com (818) 546-3304 |
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