Ehmedi Xani 's Mem U Zin

* The Kurds were anxious to advance their decades long desire for autonomy and to

Unlike the other three scholars, who all look to prove intent in the event of the Hamidian Massacres, Suny takes a different approach in his book that contrasts greatly to Ackam, Dadrian, and Bloxham. Suny challenges the idea that the Hamidian Massacres were the start of the Armenian Genocide and announces that “on closer examination the Hamidian Massacres we not genocidal, but a kind of “‘exemplary repression,’ demonstrating to the sultan's subjects what the consequences of resistance and rebellion would be” (Suny, 131). The massacres showed no intent to eliminate the Armenians, unlike the genocide of 1915. Comparing the Hamidian Massacres to those of the past and to the genocide soon to be committed Suny brings a new perspective to when intent actually began against the Armenians, which may lead to questioning the claims put forth by his fellow

To put the names “Armenia” and “Turkey” together evokes a wave of grief and anger. Over the years, a very few have challenged the two and strived to bridge the gap between Armenians and Turks. Dink “crossed that bridge to become a symbol of the struggle for human and minority rights, and of the struggle for democracy and European integration” (Cheterian, 16). Hrant Dink was one of whom who challenged the perceptions of the relationship between Armenians and Turks, starting with his discovery of the newspaper Agos, founded in 1996. The newspaper, which was written and published in both Armenian and Turkish, confronted topics about the complexities that existed between both countries over the years and advocated human rights and democratization.

The independence of Turkey and its early development as a country full of energetic youth required a combination of two almost contradictory ideals : In order to illustrate its disassociation with the past Ottoman authority the new government desired international style which expresses scientific modernization and political liberation; However, the Kemalists also wanted to preserve a certain degree of cultural root in order to boost, if not, maintain nationalistic devotion of its citizens. Consequently, a new hybridization of theses two ideals emerged

4). In 1913, “three of the Young Turks helped to gain control of Turkey’s government via a coup” (UHRC, par. 10). They wanted to create a “great and eternal land called Turan with one language and one religion” (UHRC, par. 10).

The Ottoman Empire rise after the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols. Consolidate their empire the sultans formed fighters group of slaves & Christian converts to Islam

After the interview the Turkish military officials, soldiers and ordinary men sacked Armenian villages and cities and massacred their citizens, many Armenian’s where murdered. As years passed in 1908 a new government came to place overthrowing Sultan Abdul Hamid which was called “young Turks” at first the Armenian’s had hope that things could probably change for them now that they had a different government. But they soon realized that the way these “young Turks” thought was “non- Turks and especially Christian non- Turks were a grave threat to the new state” ( History.com 2010).

The great empires of history, particularly in Islamic history, were the Ottomans of Turkey, Safavids in Persia, and Mughals in India. This text will be a brief run-down of the times in which Selim I, Suleiman I and Jahangir ruled, in hopes that if become familiar with who these rulers were in terms of the characteristics of their leadership and authority, we can interpret a picture what the society was like at that time. The common facts that Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires shared was that they all originated in Turkish nomadic cultures of the steppe, the class which originally dominated the states and social hierarchy was a military aristocracy, they were Muslim led and it was their devotion to Islam that encouraged them to carry the faith to new lands, they were based on conquest and the use of military technologies, they began with absolutist rulers and efficient bureaucracies and they surprisingly did not rule predominantly Muslim populations. The differences between the empires laid up to their ruler’s opinions, achievements and decree for example rulers of the Safavid and Mughal Empires exerted even more spiritual authority than the others, forcing their citizens to subject to their beliefs of the religion, Ismail and the emergence of Shiism.

To this day, the subject of the Armenian Genocide is controversial, splitting nations as well as researchers over the true nature of what happened and for what reasons. This research paper aims to examine the origins of the Armenian Genocide and what factors led to its conception. I utilize a number of primary sources in this research, including archival material from the Armenian National Institute that includes sources from both American and United Kingdoms governments. In addition, I also examine the accounts from those who witnessed the genocide first hand, an example being the memoir of Grigoris Balakian, an Armenian bishop who personally witnessed the persecution of his people. Through these works as well as several other secondary sources, I find evidence to support my argument that the Armenian Genocide was a pre-planned attack with the intention of exterminating the Armenian Christians. Therefore, despite the contention over its nature, the surrounding evidence and testimonies that have come forth help in making the argument that the Armenian massacres were a pre-conceived plan carried out by the Ottoman government and serves as the first true genocide to take place in the twentieth century.

Satrapi shows how femininity and gender ideals was used as an encouragement to support the revolution objectives. The revolutionary leaders needed a motive to make people strongly believe in the revolution, religion and gender was used as the main motive and to strengthen the passion. For instance, in Persepolis, women were depicted as guardians of the nation since they are understood to be the careers of tradition through motherhood. The Islamic regime used the cultural norms and turned women into a symbolic cultural base. Over the course of Persepolis, we see other different examples used by Satrapi like her teachers who seemed brainwashed by the Islamic regime Ideas (96). Fae Chubin’s “When my virtue defends your borders” shows how the 1979 revolutionary leaders’ speeches emphasized that women chastity and devotional motherhood are pivotal to the protection of the nation, its independence and its future. He uses the post-revolution interviews, speeches and writings by revolutionary leaders in the context of a historical review of gender politics and gender discourses in Iran by looking specifically into the ways in which gender is narrated and how traditional notions of femininity in the Islamic gender discourse became reconstructed and contested through those narrations. As an example, one of the revolutionary leaders Olama, said “this shameful unveiling… this basin-shape cap, the cast-off of the foreigners, is a shame to the country of

In addition, the author recalls the Iranian government closing down all bilingual schools or any other symbols of “capitalism” and “decadence”. These became symbols of regression in the eyes of the Ayatollah and everyone must conform. The author struggles with the very idea of politics and religion during this period as laws of forced veiling and oppression came into conflict with her preconceptions of religion. The author cites an instances where the police locked the outside doors of an Iranian cinema, set it on fire, and prohibited people from rescuing those inside. According to the text, “The BBC said there were 400 victims. The shah said that a group of religious fanatics perpetrated the massacre. But the people knew that it was the Shah’s fault.” The secular Iranian perspective of the injustices being committed by the newly formed Islamic Republic was troubling. A release was sought by this group of people, the only problem was enjoying life and not getting caught.

In Ghobadi’s cinema, we see how Kurdish are treated differently from the normal Iranian women. For instance, their dress code is different Rojin address is exposing too much of her skin, she wears traditional colorful clothes were on a normal occasion she is supposed to wear the black chador in Iran. Though she covers her hair, she does so with a white headscarf, unlike the traditional Islamic black headscarf. The film also highlights the male dominance issue in the society. The women are married off to women they do not know, for instance, Rojin marries a man who she has never seen in the film “A Time for Drunken Horses”. Moreover, women are not prohibited from singing in public in Iran for religious reasons. This restriction is particularly restrictive to Kurdish women who are used to sing and dance with men in a traditional or public gathering.

The veil of oppression is their fuel for protest and activism; it is the same fight against oppression that forced my ancestors to escape Crete and find refuge within Turkey’s walls. The fervor and life that I experience when in Spain is particularly appealing whenever I visit Madrid or Sevilla. However, the same passion and excitement so prevalent in the city is particularly absent in my Spanish family. Rather than embracing their connection to Spain’s daily vigor and movement, my family has isolated itself within their aristocracy and is submerged in depression and distanced affection. As I refine my relations with each country, I use my Turkish family’s strength as a means to inspire my own purpose. The contradictions within my family form a transient veil that divides the two countries, but the disparity is just as important to me as ephemeral overlaps in tradition between my

So when Mustafa Kamal (Ataturk) began to form a Turkish nation state, it was not clear what constituted a Turk but soon, Kurds were considered as Turks and a policy aiming at the detribalization and assimilation of the Kurds was adopted… The Turkish government's pursuit of full assimilation has led to the proscription of publications of any book, newspaper, or other material in the Kurdish language. Moreover, there has also been an instance of arrests of entertainers for singing songs or performing in Kurdish.

The Bedouins became the foundational symbol of Arab nationhood identity (Hoyland, 2001). They became the nationhood identity through their significant oral transmitted poetry and written Arabic literature, which became the basis and core language and humanity of Islam (Hoyland, 2001). The pre-Islamic poetry was very fine and unique, it became the linguistic standard of the interpretations of the Qu 'ran. It is noted that the