Apology not enough for Genocide – German town hosts exhibition-debate

As part of the commemorations of the Armenian Genocide centenery, an exhibition portraying the lives of Ottoman-Armenians was recently held in the Alevi Center of Hamburg (Germany).

Entitled “My Beloved Brother, Armenians in Turkey 100 Years Ago”, the event featured Armenians residing in different parts of Turkey in the early 20th century.

The exhibition, which lasted three days, offered the visitors a unique chance to conduct a historical journey from Istanbul to Trabzon and Erzurum, Sivas to Malatiya, Elaziz, Marash and Ayntap.

Osman Koker, a Turkish writer who organized the cultural event, said he derived inspiration from his very first exhibition in Istanbul (2005), which encouraged him to repeat the positive experience also in Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, United Kingdom and Armenia.

A debate held on the exhibition’s last day was attended by Wolfgang Goust, a journalist who worked for for 25 years worked for the German exhibition Spiegel, and Martin Dolzer, an ethnic Turkish parliament member elected from Hamburg.

In his speech at the event, Mr Goust admitted Germany’s role in the Armenian Genocide, citing documents published by the country’s Foreign Ministry in 1919.

Turkish writer Recep Marasli said many Armenian churches on Turkey’s territory are now used as mosques. “Apologizing is not enough; [descendents of the perpetrators] ought to be ashamed,” he said, adding that the grandchildren and grand-grand-children of the Ottoman-era genocide orchestrators and perpetrators have not abandoned the wealth accumulated illegally by their ancestors.