Author: Antonian Lara

CHANGER LA POLITIQUE DU GOUVERNEMENT SUR LA QUESTION ARMENIENNE
par Jean Eckian

armenews
jeudi25 mars 2010

TURQUIE

Par Cengiz Aktar – Hurriyet Daily News

Victorieux aux elections de juillet 2007, le parti au pouvoir Justice
et Developpement, ou AKP, avait trouve sur son bureau en octobre,
la resolution de la Chambre sur le Genocide Armenien a la Chambre
des Representants des Etats-Unis.

A l’epoque, le premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan avait mis en
garde sur les consequences possibles du vote de la resolution. "Les
USA feront un tort considerable aux liens bilateraux avec l’un de ses
allies clef de la region. Les developpements possibles avec l’Armenie
deviendront moins envisageables."

La Commission des Affaires Etrangères de la Chambre avait vote la
resolution le 10 octobre 2007, tout a fait comme en mars 2010. A la
suite du vote, Erdogan avait dit qu’ils travaillaient activement
sur des mesures a prendre, disant : "Ce ne sont pas des paroles,
mais des actes," après qu’on l’ait questionne sur le sort de la base
aerienne d’Incirlik.

Malgre cela, le partenariat entre les deux pays ne s’est pas distendu ;
au contraire, en particulier après l’accession a la presidence d’Obama,
le partenariat Turquie-USA s’est developpe davantage. Malgre les
rumeurs qui etaient a l’epoque qu’Erdogan pourrait annuler son voyage
aux USA prevu pour novembre 2007, la visite eut lieu le 3 novembre.

S’agissant des relations avec l’Armenie, la mise au point des
Protocoles, alors justes lances a cette epoque, s’est poursuivie et
l’accord sur leurs principes a ete signe a l’automne dernier.

Les projets de resolution sur le Genocide Armenien, qui ont ete votes
depuis 1965 dans divers parlements a travers le monde, n’ont jamais
provoque autant de tension entre la Turquie et les 20 pays qui les
ont ratifies que celle apparue ces jours-ci entre la Turquie et les
USA et entre la Turquie et la Suède.

La seule tension serieuse, autant que je me souvienne, s’etait produite
lorsque la Turquie avait rappele son ambassadeur a Paris Hasan Esat
Isik, parce qu’un monument avait ete inaugure a Marseille en 1974. Dans
un passe recent, la Turquie a eu une reaction similaire envers le
Canada, mais qui n’a pas dure. Au contraire, Erdogan a visite ces 20
pays a de nombreuses reprises, a l’exception de l’Armenie et de la
Republique de Chypre. Aucune alteration des relations economiques n’en
a resulte. La France a meme ete invitee a nouveau a faire des offres
de marches militaires après avoir ete mise a l’index un certain temps.

Une diplomatie ferme mais inefficace.

Par rapport aux annees precedentes, en matière d’affaires etrangères,
il est evident que le gouvernement renforce sa posture. Nous comprenons
a present pourquoi le ministre turc des affaires etrangères Ahmet
Davutoglu est compare a l’ancien Secretaire d’Etat Henry Kissinger,
un champion de la politique etrangère musclee.

Le rappel d’ambassadeurs de Stockholm et de Washington l’un a la suite
de l’autre pour consultations ; la demande de garanties inconcevables
a l’administration des USA que la Resolution de la Chambre n’arrivera
pas jusqu’a la phase de discussion ; annuler et non pas seulement
retarder un sommet a deux prevu pour avoir lieu a Stockholm : la
recommandation aux cercles d’affaires, de prendre des distances
avec ces pays : la menace de deporter les travailleurs clandestins
d’Armenie en represailles aux resolutions sue le Genocide – imitant
en cela la decision d’Idi Amin Dada d’expulser les hommes d’affaires
musulmans d’Inde et du Pakistan en 1972.

Mais tout cela n’apparaît que comme des menaces verbales creuses qui
desservent la credibilite de la politique etrangère turque.Parce que
finalement Erdogan se rendra aux USA accompagne par l’Ambassadeur
turc, et pourra peut-etre discuter, entre autres sujets, de la
question armenienne.

Les relations avec notre plus grand allie de l’Union Europeenne,
la Suède, redeviendra elle aussi normale. Les Protocoles signes
avec l’Armenie seront geles au moins jusqu’a la fin de la periode
electorale. Mais nous pourrions esperer un engagement pour la Turquie
a faire des gestes de retour a la confiance après le voyage d’Erdogan
a Washington.

Qualifier les actes de parlements etrangers comme "non convenables",
"sans aucune valeur", "une comedie", "ridicule" et "un spectacle
organise par la diaspora" relève soit de l’insulte soit de la menace.

Le gouvernement de Turquie a pris une initiative critique a l’ete
2007 pour aller au-dela du refrain habituel vieux d’a peu près quatre
vingt dix ans utilise a propos du Genocide Armenien. Independamment
de ses objectifs, c’etait une etape courageuse et critique. Mais a
cause de rigidites au sein du gouvernement, l’initiative a ete avortee.

Maintenant, le chef et les membres du gouvernement se debattent,
passant de la manifestation de leur colère a celles de l’honneur
national et d’orgueil.Tout au contraire, ils devraient se calmer
et trouver des voies de normalisation avec l’Armenie. Entre temps,
les officiels pourraient et devraient faire un effort pour consulter
d’autres sources que la thèse negationniste sur ce qui est arrive
aux Armeniens d’Anatolie a la fin du 19eme siècle et au debut du 20eme.

Parce qu’il est impossible pour la Turquie – et pour l’AKP, sur ce
sujet – de continuer de parler de changement democratique d’un côte,
et de l’autre, approuver les actes des gouvernements ottomans du
debut du 20ème siècle.

18 mars 2010

Cengiz Aktar est professeur d’etudes europeennes a l’Universite de
Galatasaray Bahcesehir d’Istanbul et politologue.

STEPHEN COURT, THE HISTORY & THE HEIGHT

Calcutta Telegraph
p/frontpage/story_12258933.jsp
March 25 2010
India

We have passed by it a million times, dined, shopped and made merry at
its landmark fun zones, visited friends living or working there. Yet,
how much do we really know about Stephen Court?

Metro drums out a ready-reckoner the day after the devastating fire

Who is Stephen Court named after?

Arathoon Stephen, who is mentioned as the lease-holder for the property
at 18A Park Street in the city’s civic records dating back to World
War I.

Who was Arathoon Stephen?

Born in Iran in 1861, Arathoon Stephen was a member of the Armenian
community in Calcutta, which is believed to have spent a huge amount
of money in shaping the growth of the city.

Stephen was a shareholder and the first managing director of Stephen
Court Ltd. He founded the Grand hotel in Calcutta and the Everest
hotel in Darjeeling, which also saw a devastating fire.

The Everest hotel is now known as the Swiss Hotel. Stephen lived at 2
Camac Street and was known as a patron of education and art. He died
in May 1927.

Who was the owner of the land on which Stephen Court was built?

Peter Charles Earnest Paul was the owner of the land — measuring
3 bigha 17 cottah and 8 chhatak — located at the junction of Park
Street and Middleton Row.

Documents available in the central record room of the Calcutta
Municipal Corporation name PCE Paul as the "official trustee" of 18A
Park Street.

What stood on plot 18A before Stephen Court came up?

A map of the area dating back to 1910 (see right) show a small,
three-storeyed building on the plot. Later, civic records of
August-September 1917 mention a single-storeyed building comprising
one shop.

PCE Paul is named as the owner of the plot and Arathoon Stephen as
the lease-holder and occupier.

When was Stephen Court built?

Stephen Court Ltd was registered under the Companies Act, 1913, in
December, 1923. The company constructed a building comprising three
floors on the plot in 1924.

The usage was mixed (residential and commercial). There was, however,
no differentiation in civic rules regarding residential and commercial
establishments back then.

When were the upper storeys added?

In the 1930s, a fourth floor was added to Stephen Court, without
the necessary civic sanctions. Around 1984, two more storeys were
added illegally.

What happened to the illegal floors?

In 1984, the CMC slapped a notice on the Stephen Court authorities
about the three illegal floors. The same year a hearing was held at
the CMC and all three floors were "regularised" after the building
authorities paid the necessary penalty.

What about fire clearance?

In 1984, according to the civic rules, any building higher than
18 metres required a clearance from the fire department. After the
addition of the three floors, Stephen Court had crossed the 18m mark.

However, owing to a loophole in the law, it didn’t have to obtain
the fire department’s clearance as buildings that were regularised
could skip this requirement.

How many floors is the building now?

According to civic records, Stephen Court has seven floors. That
is because a mezzanine floor was added between the ground and first
floors. The date of this addition is, however, not known.

SERGE SARGSYAN, DURING HIS VISIT TO SYRIA, MADE A QUITE OPEN STATEMENT CONCERNING THE SETTLEMENT OF THE NKR ISSUE.

s17268.html
11:39:28 – 24/03/2010

"To strengthen the security, a security zone was set up around
Karabakh. This zone is not populated and is not used, despite the
statements of Azerbaijan. As soon as the Karabakh people have
the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination
and development, and functional mechanisms will be established,
the Armenian side may consider as a compromise, the return of the
regions surrounding Karabakh to Azerbaijan, while maintaining a
corridor between Armenia and Karabakh", Serge Sargsyan stated in an
interview with the Syrian Al Watan.

Statement by Serge Sargsyan did not become a sensation, because in
the years of his tenure as defense minister, during the hearings in
the Armenian parliament on the Karabakh issue, he shared such ideas,
although with a less clear text. He then stated that during the war,
speaking to soldiers, he used to say that the task is not to expand
our territory, but to create a security belt, which then would become
a subject of negotiation.

Of course, many of soldiers stated after that no one had ever told them
such a thing and no one could ever say, because they were fighting
for the release of those territories at the cost of their lives. But
the case is that Serge Sargsyan voiced his opinion on the territories
4-5 years ago, and overall, the thought told Al Watan is not news.

The whole question is how the NKR government is going to respond to
that statement, which declares that they can discuss the consequences
of the conflict, including the territories, only after the status
issue is solved. How the NKR is going to respond considering the fact
that the NKR Constitution set the liberated territories as part of
the NKR? It turns out that in his interview, the President of Armenia
encroach on the Constitution of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, and
considered himself entitled to dispose the territories which are under
the jurisdiction of another country. If the Armenian government may be
so disrespectful towards the NKR Constitution in an interview, what
could we expect from other countries? Will the Karabakh authorities
give answers to these questions?

HAKOB BADALYAN

ARMENIA: ONE OF THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA RATES OF DRUG-RESISTANT TB

Tert.am
09:46 ~U 24.03.10

Armenia has one of the highest per capita rates of drug-resistant
tuberculosis (DR TB) in the world, and since 2004 Medecins Sans
Frontières (MSF) has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health,
running the only DR TB treatment program in the country, according
to a news update on the MSF website.

DR TB occurs when TB bacilli present in a patient are resistant to
the first line drugs that are most effective in combating the disease.

Patients with regular TB can develop resistance if they do not complete
the full course of drugs, or a person can be directly infected by
drug resistant TB strain from an infected DR TB patient.

Medecins Sans Frontières provides the drugs – which can cost up to
15,000 dollars per patient for a two-year course – supervises the
treatment and gives patients psychological and social assistance.

Through the World Health Organization’s Green Light Committee approved
Medecins Sans Frontières program, the drugs are now accessible at a
reduced cost to the program and available free of cost to the patients.

Armenia has a modern, well-equipped national laboratory for detecting
DR TB, with results from sputum tests available within three weeks.

But still, to be tested in the national laboratory, she had to be
referred by a TB doctor, and in Armenia as elsewhere, it is a new
intervention and the TB program and its staff are in a stage of
developing this expertise with the support of Medecins Sans Frontières.

According to Dr. Stobdan Kalon, the Medecins Sans Frontières head
of mission in Armenia, "Now the extent of the spread of TB is so
generalized that it is very much likely that TB can affect anybody
and now we are starting to see TB in the general population, even
the well-to-do affluent population."

SYRIA AND ARMENIA SIGN 10 AGREEMENTS, MEMOS OF UNDERSTANDING AND EXECUTIVE PROGRAM

SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency
.htm
March 23 2010

Syria and Armenia signed on Tuesday 9 agreements and memos of
understanding for cooperation in several fields including justice,
interior, higher education, scientific research, industry, electricity,
renewable energy, sport and remote sensing.

Also, an executive program for technical and scientific cooperation
in agriculture for the years 2010 and 2012 was signed.

The agreements were signed by Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian
Reform Adel Safar, Minister of Higher Education Ghiyath Barakat,
Minister of Industry Fouad Issa al-Jouni, Minister of Electricity
Ahmad Qussai Kayyali, Minister of Justice Ahmad Younes, Minister of
Interior Said Sammour, Director-General of the Remote Sensing General
Establishment Osama Ammar and Chairman of the Executive Office of
the General Sport Union Muaffaq Jomaa.

On the Armenian side, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Agriculture
Minister Gerasim Alaverdian, Armenian Ambassador to Damascus Arshak
Poladyan signed the agreements.

In a statement to SANA, Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri said
Syrian-Armenian relations are important and necessary, adding Syria
is exerting all efforts to enhance them in the interests of both
friendly countries.

SPANISH GOVERNMENT SAID TRYING TO BLOCK ARMENIA GENOCIDE MOTION

ABC Newspaper website
March 22 2010
Spain

The following is the text of the report by the Spanish newspaper ABC
website, on 22 March.

The Spanish government is making moves to halt a parliamentary motion
condemning the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century so as not
to harm relations with Turkey, according to a Madrid daily. It says
the foreign minister has talked to the speaker of the lower house to
try to prevent the motion from prospering.

Madrid: The government is taking steps to prevent from prospering
in the Congress [of Deputies – lower house of parliament] a motion
presented by ERC [Republican Left of Catalonia] which seeks to condemn
the Armenian "genocide" at the hands of the Turkish-Ottoman Empire
during World War I. The government is aware that a decision of this
type would arouse considerable discontent in Turkey, its main ally
in the Alliance of Civilizations [between the West and Muslim worlds].

[Foreign Minister] Miguel Angel Moratinos has contacted Jose Bono
[speaker of the Congress] in the last few days to try to halt the
processing of the initiative, so ABC has learned from reliable sources.

The room for manoeuvre of the speaker of the Congress, however, will
be limited when the initiative reaches the parliamentary assembly
before moving on to the House business committee, which will decide
the way in which it will be processed.

A similar proposal was approved by all the groups in the [regional]
parliament of Catalonia, for which reason the government fears
that the same thing might happen in Madrid. Even the simple fact
of debating it would arouse discontent in the Turkish authorities,
who are very sensitive about this issue.

The government is concerned that there will be a repeat of what
happened to Turkey’s relations with the USA and with Sweden, where
measures have been passed which describe as "genocide" the massacre
of a million-and-a-half Armenians over several years, starting in
1915, carried out under the leadership of the "Young Turks" during
the Ottoman Empire and before the formation of the current republic
of Turkey by Ataturk, in 1923.

Ankara withdrew its ambassador in Washington after on 4 March a US
Congress committee sanctioned the initiative by a difference of a
single vote. It did the same thing with its ambassador in Stockholm
after the Swedish parliament passed a similar motion on 11 March.

Vain explanations

Both [Barack] Obama and the Swedish foreign minister, Carl Bildt,
disagreed with what was passed by their respective parliaments,
but Turkey considered they had not done enough to stop it. Turkish
discontent is even greater because they are two countries with
which it maintains good relations – and the same goes for Spain,
which has backed Turkey’s membership of the EU, once it meets the
necessary requirements.

It must be remembered that [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip]
Erdogan co-sponsors with [Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez]
Zapatero the Alliance of Civilizations, the Spanish government’s
main foreign policy project, which could be affected by a Congress
resolution regarding the Armenians.

All that means that the Foreign Ministry is pulling strings to try
to ensure that the ERC initiative, signed by Joan Tarda [male], does
not go ahead. The proposition states that the government must urge
Ankara to acknowledge the massacre perpetrated almost a century ago
"as a gesture of concord with Armenia", in line with the spirit of
the Alliance of Civilizations.

Healing wounds

In another point, the EU is asked to act as mediator between Turkey
and Armenia for the definitive overcoming of the genocide because,
in his opinion, "the historical recognition of the crimes perpetrated
is necessary to heal wounds".

Turkey has never recognized the massacre of those million-and-a-half
Armenians and puts the number of victims at 300,000, but blames it
on fighting among ethnic groups and the famines of World War I,
not on a repressive policy directed at that minority. In Turkey,
describing what happened to the Armenian community as genocide is
punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.

In statements that are hardly very suitable for the Alliance of
Civilizations, Erdogan has told the BBC about the possibility of
expelling some 100,000 undocumented Armenians. In addition, the
Turkish authorities have warned of the possible consequences for
economic relations with the countries that describe the deaths of
the Armenians as "genocide". As well as France, the United States
and Sweden, some 20 countries have recognized the "genocide". The
European Parliament did so in 1987.

NO ARTICLE IN TURKEY WELCOMED ERDOGAN’S WORDS, TURKISH POLITICIAN SAYS

news.am
March 23 2010
Armenia

At the March 23 meeting with journalists in Yerevan, leader of Turkish
Liberal Democratic Party, stated he had not read any article in
Turkey that would welcome Premier Erdogan’s statement about possible
deportation of 100.000 illegal Armenians.

According to him, even the Turkish pro-governmental media were
critical of Erdogan’s statement. Toker voiced confidence that, if
the Government really decided to deport Armenians, Turkish society
would be the first to oppose the initiative.

Earlier, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to expel
Armenians illegally working in Turkey. However, after harsh criticism
inside Turkey as well, Erdogan tried to justify himself, saying he
merely wanted to emphasize a good attitude towards neighbors enabling
Armenian citizens to work in Turkey.

TURKEY TO LODGE LAWSUIT AGAINST STATES, RECOGNIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

news.am
March 22 2010
Armenia

Turkish oppositional parties’ MPs from National Unity and Republican
People’s Party intend to come up with a lawsuit against the states,
that recognized Armenian Genocide of 1915 in Ottoman Empire, Turkish
Hurriyet reads.

The final decision on the matter should be made by Turkish government,
that is yet silent.

According to the Republican MP Sukru Elekdag, international court
should give a precise response to Turkey about its fault. He reckons
that both countries’ parliaments break assumption of innocence,
accusing Turkey of the genocide: "I suppose that if we achieve the
international out-of-court settlement, extensive work should be done
to establish our case."

He deems the states, that already recognized the fact of genocide
should realize the meaning of the word and determine whether one
state can accuse the other of such a crime.

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO RESTORE ST. GEORGY CHURCH

news.am
March 22 2010
Armenia

Armenian St. Georgy church in Feodosiya (14th century) will fall
under supervision of Armenian community and be restored shortly.

Presently, the relevant documents are being processed (paper work
lasts for 6 months) and upon its completion the date of restoration
start can be set, Analitika.at.ua reports.

Firstly, the territory will be cleaned up and church facade repaired.

Thereafter, the interior works will be carried out.

Presently, the abandoned church is in state of decay – the dome is
in poor state, garages are located on that area. In 2006 Armenian
community informed about its intention to restore the church, though
it did go beyond the cleaning. They decided that any restoration
works are useless until the territory is fenced.

Armenian community also plans to get supervision over the territory
in Feodosiya with St. Michael Church and Aivazovsky’s grave.

LET US DIGEST MARCH 1

.html
17:02:30 – 22/03/2010

Despite disagreements regarding several issues, normal relations have
always been present between the Republican and the Bargavach Hayastan
parties, said on March 22 the RP vice-chair Razmik Zohrabyan.

Dwelling on the thesis mentioned by the Armenian former foreign
minister Vardan Oskanyan in an interview, about the change of the
government, Razmik Zohrabyan said: "Today, RP and the coalition have
enough force; we do not need new people. If necessary, we will turn to
Robert Kocharyan as a skilful official. In all democratic countries,
former officials help new governments and share their experience. It
is not right to often change officials: let us digest March 1",
says Zohrabyan.