Genocide in the curriculum.
Four members of parliament from different parties in the Swedish parliament, three of whom are from the ruling Social Democrats, have proposed that the issue of genocide be introduced in the curriculum.
Initially, Socialist MPs Abraham Halef, Ingela Nylund Watz and Denis Begic wrote the following:
"Between 1915 and 1918, more than 1,5 million Christians, including Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians and Greeks Pontians, were murdered in present-day Turkey. The purpose of this genocide was to create a homogeneous country with language and religion and therefore there was no room for indigenous Christians.
Much has been written about these facts and the subject has been the subject of interest to many researchers. The genocide may have happened a hundred years ago, but eyewitness accounts live on from generation to generation. However, Turkey still chooses not to acknowledge or deal with the past. The Swedish parliament decided to recognize Seyfo in 2010 (a trio of genocides), as did several other countries.
The grandchildren and descendants of the affected generation are still awaiting recovery and recognition. Such a restoration would be that the Seyfo genocide would become a natural part of teaching, something that would be possible if included in the curriculum.
During her visit to Södertälje 2018, then Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said the following to the descendants of the genocide:
"We must - today - take a long list of measures - for example, commission the History Forum to make a traveling report on the 1915 genocide."
The then Foreign Minister also presented other initiatives, such as educational material on the subject in the country's schools and a conference on the Genocide Convention.
This issue is important for the descendants who have been affected but also for the whole society. This will also be a reminder of the future. "
Moreover, the Assyrian MP of the Liberals of Sweden brings the issue back to the surface, emphasizing the importance of the existence of the issue of genocide in the curriculum.
Robert Hannah writes specifically:
"Before the invasion of Poland, Hitler is said to have said: 'Who remembers the Armenian genocide? The growing knowledge of seyfo not only describes the victims, but how the perpetrators' methods were inherited by Nazis and Islamists. In addition, seyfo knowledge is central to understanding the end of the Ottoman Empire and the new map of the Middle East, with the borders now blurred.
As important as the Holocaust is for understanding the modern history of Europe, so is seyfo for understanding the modern history of the Middle East. It provides a background for Turkey's aggression against the country's national minorities. And the importance of tackling bloody history in order to reconcile with the victims and develop democracy.
Turkish refusal has caused enormous suffering to the survivors. Those who survived are dead, but they told their children about the horror and their grandchildren where they continue to say it. In his doctoral dissertation A Minority Odyssey, Fuat Deniz wrote about hereditary pain and how seyfo is part of the Assyrian identity. Awareness of seyfo has been raised through research, but Turkey's denial makes genocide survivors terrified of oblivion. Therefore, seyfo must become part of the teaching ".
It is reminded that the man who practiced the recognition of the genocide by the Swedish Parliament in 2010 is the former Greek MP in the Swedish Parliament Nikos Papadopoulos where in a separate insert we will present his full work in the Swedish Parliament.
Mr. Papadopoulos with his own proposal in 2008 became a reality in March 2010 with a difference of one vote. Mr. Papadopoulos was also the one who pressed MPs from all parties to embrace the need to recognize the genocide.
Proud!
Photo: Janwikifoto, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
