Nov. 20, 05

(ZNDA: Stockholm) On Tuesday 15 November around 300 students, journalists, scholars and other interested people gathered in Stockholm for the conference on the Assyrian and Armenian Genocide of 1915, also known as Seyfo (Assyrian word for sword).

The conference was organised by the federation of Sweden´s labourers, ABF, the Forum for Living History, an organisation financed by the Swedish government, and the Assyrian and Armenian organisations in Sweden.

The conference attracted much attention because of its academic forum and the distingueshed speakers, including the Armenian professor Vahakn N Dadrian from U.S., Dr Tessa Hoffman from Freie Universitet in Berlin, Germany and Professor David Gaunt from Sweden. Another speaker was professor Dr Kemal Cicek from the Turkish Historical Association, representing the denial policy of the Turkish state.

Professor David Gaunt
In the last few years Professor David Gaunt from the university of Södertörn in Stockholm has studied Seyfo and is soon expected to publish a new book on Seyfo, in cooperstion with Mr Jan Diarbarkalrli.

During his speech on Seyfo Professor Gaunt showed the official Ottoman documents exposing orders for the deportation and killing of the Assyrians. One such document stated that the Assyrians must be relocated to Moslim villages and there ought to be no more than twenty Assyrians in each Muslim village. This was intended to eradicate the Assyrian identity and facilitiate the turkification of the Assyrians.

Professor Gaunt also explained why the genocide is less known as Assyrian and more so as Armenian, in that the lack of an Assyrian state has made it immensely difficult for the Assyrians to make other people understand what they have suffered. Another reason was the lack of well educated people among the Assyrians in the earlier times who could articulate their experince for foreigners.

But he also underlined that the scholars are in the beginning phase of the understanding of Seyfo and that there is much research left to be done. He expressed his apreciatation for the Assyrian communities´ willingness to translate important documents and books into English. It will make the job much easier, he said.

Professor Kemal Cicek
Professor Kemal Cicek, the Turkish representative, stressed during his entire speach that there was no genocidal acts committed by the Turks during the First World War. He accused the Armenian scholars of manipulating numbers and sources and he underlined that the Armenian revolutionary parties are to blame for the fighting between the Turks and the Armenians. When asked whether Turkey ever will aknowledge the Assyrian and Armenian genocides he replied "No, never!", only to state seconds later: "If an independent commission of scholars study the case and conclude that it was a genocide, then Turkey will aknowledge".

Professor Cicek made several controversial statements during his spech. When it was pointed out to him that the Assyrians are not considered as a minority in Turkey according to the important Laussane Treaty of 1923 he shouted out "Why are you Assyrians seeking minority status in Turkey when in fact you have always been treated as first class citizens?". A mixture of laughter and loud cries followed his statement.

Professor Vahakn N Dadrian
The Armenian professor Dadrian did not mention the name of the Assyrians once during his speech. And when asked whether Armenia should become the first state to aknowledge the Assyrian genocide he replied " It is a good question but I can't give you an answer, because we do not know much about your experience". This statement, some Assyrian observers concluded, shows that there remains a reluctance towards the recognition of the Assyrian genocide by the armenian scholars.

Another speaker was the Turkish journalist and author Ms Yelda Özcan who began her speech by apologizing in both Assyrian and Armenian. As she put it " I am sorry that I have to speak to you in the language of those who killed you". She also said that she is ashamed of being Turkish and continued listing the Turkish atrocities against the minorities.

This conference was a very important step in making the Assyrian genocide known in Sweden. Many of the attendents were Swedes. And there were also Swedish historians and politicians among the crowd. A detajled article was published on the conference the following day in the second largest newspaper in Sweden.

The Assyrians of Sweden are continuing their work and lobbying activities to recieve the much needed recognition of Seyfo by the Swedish parliament - a recognition which feels closer today than ever before.