Turkey’s Application for Accession to the European Union
by Hermiz Shahen, Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) - Australian Chapter
Posted: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 01:28 pm CST

Dear Europarliament Member:

On behalf of the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA) - Australian Chapter, I am writing to encourage you to support amendments regarding the Armenian Genocide during discussions of the "Report on Turkey’s Application for Accession to the European Union," (Report A5-02-97/2000, by Philippe Morillon).

As you are aware, Article I, Subparagraph 4 of Resolution A2-33/87 stipulates that the European Parliament considers:

• Turkey's refusal to recognize the genocide committed against the Armenian people by the 'young Turk' government;
• refusal to apply standards of International law in their disagreements with Greece; continued military occupation of Cyprus;
• refusal to recognize Assyrian and Kurdish Human rights; absence of true parliamentary democracy;
• and failure to respect individual and collective freedoms, particularly those dealing with religious rights to constitute insurmountable obstacles to even the examination of possible accession by Turkey into the European Community.

As such, I urge you, as an official charged with defending commonly held democratic values, to support amendments to Mr. Morillon's prepared report dealing with the Armenian Genocide.

It is an undeniable fact that in the same period that the Armenian Genocide were taking place, the Assyrians were subject to the same atrocities, over 750,000 Christian Assyrians lost their lives in this genocide, and that hundreds of Churches were plundered, burnt and destroyed. The depopulation of Greek Orthodox, Assyrians and the Armenians was part of parcel of Turkey's policy of eliminating the Christian minorities.

The facts of the Armenian Genocide are thoroughly documented in the archives of Europe (Austria, German, French, British, and others), as well as those of the United States and Russia. All these documents record the systematic and deliberate extermination of one and a half million Armenians, at least 300,000 Greeks from the Pontos region and 750,000 Assyrians in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Efforts to encourage Turkey to face this historical reality will help move forward the process of democratization in that nation. It will, as well, provide moral support for those courageous voices in Turkey who have taken a stand against the official government's campaign to deny this crime against humanity. By ensuring that recognition of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocide remains a condition of Turkey's accession we will also be helping to guarantee that Turkey understands its contemporary obligations to protect both the human and collective community rights of its minority populations and to prevent any future genocide. Finally, taking this step will help encourage Turkey to abandon its failed eight-year policy of blockading Armenia as a means of pressuring the Armenian people to retreat from their efforts to secure international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. This blockade is a violation of international law and represents a serious obstacle to a durable peace in the Caucuses.

We are urgently seeking your assistance in this matter. Thank you for your attention to our concerns.

Sincerely yours,

Hermiz Shahen
Assyrian Universal Alliance - Australian Chapter

NOTE

The AUA is an international alliance made up of various sectors of the Assyrian people as represented by the Assyrian national organizations and federations through out the world. The AUA is committing it self to spreading, upholding, enhancing the Assyrian name around the world, and working to secure the sacred human and national rights of the Assyrian people in our home land and else where.

Related Information...

Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News website
Government Conference
European Information Archives