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03/22/2006
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1) New Training Center for Border Troops Opens in Yerevan
2) International Association of Genocide Scholars Urge PBS to Air Genocide
Documentary
3) Turkish Human Rights Activist Sentenced to Prison
4) Azerbaijan Dedicates Monument in Nakhichevan to Turkish Soldiers

1) New Training Center for Border Troops Opens in Yerevan

YEREVAN (Armenpress/Yerkir)–Increasing the efficiency of the Armenian border
defense is in the interest of the entire international community, US
Ambassador
John Evans said during the opening ceremony of a new training center for
Armenian border troops.
John Evans said the US government is happy to help Armenia train its border
guards and strengthen its national borders.
“The whole world should be interested in non-proliferation. For a sovereign
state like Armenia the border defense becomes a priority issue and we are glad
to render assistance in such an important matter,” said Evans.
Chief of Armenia’s national security service Gorik Hakobian said that since
2001 the US government has provided significant support to Armenian border
troops in the form of vehicles, surveillance and radio-communication devices,
and computers.

2) International Association of Genocide Scholars Urge PBS to Air Genocide
Documentary

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) wrote a letter
Friday
to PBS Stations across the US, urging them to air Andrew Goldberg’s
documentary
[The Armenian Genocide] on April 17, but not the PBS-sanctioned panel
discussion featuring Genocide deniers.
Israel Charney and Gregory H. Stanton, President and Vice President of IAGS,
describe the widely-praised film as “accurate and well done.”
The letter points out that virtually all major PBS affiliates and networks in
several other countries will air the documentary that “so clearly describes
and
addresses the issue of Armenian genocide denial.”
The film deals with denial, which “is of paramount importance since
denial–which we know today is the very last stage of genocide–not only hurts
the victims and descendants of victims of the genocide, but invites future
perpetrators to commit genocide again and again.”
For this reason, the letter urges PBS stations to opt out of airing the panel
discussion about the genocide featuring known deniers Omer Turan and Justin
McCarthy.
“It would be openly disrespectful of a survivor-community’s sensibilities to
bring on genocide deniers in a panel immediately following a documentary about
the reality of the Armenian Genocide–though we have only the highest regard
and trust in the scholars whom PBS chose to answer the deniers, Professors
Taner Akcam and Peter Balakian.”
According to the IAGS, [The Armenian Genocide] is “the best film ever made
about the Armenian Genocide.”
The Orange County affiliate of PBS, KOCE, will air [The Armenian Genocide]
Wednesday, April 26, at 9:00 PM.

3) Turkish Human Rights Activist Sentenced to Prison

(Combined Sources)–Eren Keskin, head of the Istanbul branch of the Human
Rights Association (IHD) and one of the founders of the Legal Aid Project for
sexually tortured women, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison by a
Turkish
Court for insulting the Turkish armed forces.
Keskin is being charged–under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code–for
statements she made about rape and other sexual assaults suffered by female
inmates at a public meeting in Cologne, Germany in March of 2002. Her crime
was
to publicize the sexual torture that some of her women clients reported they
had suffered in custody.
Keskin’s ten month sentence was reduced to a fine of 6000 Turkish Liras, but
the lawyer refused to pay bail, preferring instead to serve out her sentence.
According to the Istanbul branch of IHD, Keskin and her lawyers have already
taken her case to the court of appeals and are demanding that the sentence be
dropped.
Keskin has become the target of a major smear campaign in the Turkish
media. A
male journalist publicly threatened her with sexual harassment in a radio
program. After international pressure, the Turkish Press Council finally
issued
a warning in July 2002 to the journalist concerned.
Keskin has faced 86 lawsuits in relation to her human rights activities. In
one trial she is charged under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law for having
disseminated “separatist propaganda” in statements made during a panel
discussion on “Violence against Women” held in November 2001.
In another trial she is accused for press statements and bulletins on the
subject of Kurdish language and culture which were issued by the IHD between
January and March 2002. She is charged under Article 169 of the Turkish Penal
Code with support for the illegal armed opposition Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) through these publications. The prosecutor alleges that the statements
were prepared according to decisions taken by the PKK.
Keskin had been receiving death threats over the telephone for many years.
Harassment against her has included telephone death threats, being shot at,
physical assault by a police officer and arbitrary detention and
ill-treatment.

4) Azerbaijan Dedicates Monument in Nakhichevan to Turkish Soldiers

A monument dedicated “to the memory of Turks who defended Nakhichevan against
Armenian invaders during World War I” was recently opened in the Ordubad
region
of Nakhichevan. The monument will be located not too far from the
centuries-old
Armenian cemetery in Old Julfa, which was destroyed by Azeri forces in late
2005.
During the opening ceremony, Turkish Army commander Jelaled Bacanli said that
the Turkish army will always stand beside their Azeri brothers, just as they
have in the past.
“The Turkish people and the Turkish Armed Forces will always stand by
Azerbaijan’s side,” said Bacanli.
“Azerbaijan’s problems are our problems, their joy, our joy,” he said,
borrowing a saying from Kemal Ataturk.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress