Author: Basmajian Ani

KURDISH MP’S VOTE DECISIVE FOR PASSAGE OF GENOCIDE RESOLUTION IN SWEDISH PARLIAMENT

Tert.am
12:59 â~@¢ 12.03.10

The vote of Gulan Avcı, a Swedish parliamentarian born in the town
of Van in Eastern Turkey and Kurdish by ethnicity, played a decisive
role in the passage of a March 11 Swedish parliament resolution that
recognized the Armenian Genocide. The parliament narrowly adopted
the resolution with a vote of 131 to 130.

Turkish news agency Firat reports that the resolution was adopted
due to the vote of this deputy from the Swedish People’s Party,
despite that fact that the party was against the resolution.

"The recognition of the Genocide by the Swedish parliament is very
important. I know that my vote was a decisive one. It was necessary,
as it was high time for Turkey to settle its past and recognize the
genocides and massacres it perpetrated throughout its history. Several
nations worldwide consider Turkey a genocidal state," said Avcı.

Ironically, earlier, US House Resolution 252 on the Armenian Genocide
was adopted by the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee because of a vote by a Muslim Senator.

SWEDISH PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

news.am
March 11 2010
Armenia

On March 11, the Swedish Parliament is to hold a vote on a bill
recognizing the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

DeutscheWelle reported that the Foreign Affairs Committee proposed
rejecting the bill drafted by 15 MPs representing different parties.

The bill condemns both the Armenian Genocide and similar crimes
against other peoples.

Bills recognizing the Armenian Genocide have been proposed before
only to be rejected. This time, the Social Democrats, who used to
vote against the bills, unanimously supported it last November.

Three left parties developed a concept of Sweden’s foreign policy
which is supposed to be an alternative to the official foreign policy.

This new policy provides for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

One hundred and seventy-eight members of the Swedish Parliament
represent the Government, while 171 are left-wingers. The bill will
be rejected if the pro-government MPs vote against it. But three of
the 15 MPs are members of pro-government parties. The bill will be
passed if the three MPs are joined by at least one more member of
pro-government forces.

Turkish organizations in Sweden have gathered 5,000 signatures against
the bill.

A delegation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly visited Sweden
a month ago to warn their Swedish counterparts the approval of the
bill would cause damage to Turkish-Swedish relations.

YEREVAN TO REVOKE SIGNATURES FROM PROTOCOLS IF RATIFICATION DELAYED

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.03.2010 21:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ It has been 95 years Turkey has denied the
Armenian Genocide . Armenia stated its readiness to ratify the
Protocols aimed at Armenian-Turkish normalization after the Turkish
parliament does it. But Ankara does not cease voicing preconditions
for the ratification of these protocols, and the basic precondition
is related to Nagorno Karabakh, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
told the French newspaper Le Figaro.

"In the XXI century closed borders and the language of preconditions
are unacceptable. We say, let’s first establish relationships, and then
talk about all issues. Both countries want to deepen their relations
with Europe and share European values, excluding hostile actions
towards each other. And the international community, I belive, must
express its position over the matter, " the Armenian President said.

Being dragged out, Armenian-Turkish normalization process is losing
gradually its advocates, those who initially supported the Protocols ,
Serzh Sargsyan said.

The President of Armenia said he has a great wish to normalize
relations with Turkey, but recent statements of Turkey prompt that
Ankara will not ratify the Protocols in the foreseeable future.

"We warned if Turkey uses the reconciliation process for other
purposes, we will take appropriate steps. We will revoke our signatures
from the Protocols if ratification delayed,"Serzh Sargsyan said.

Commenting on the decision of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
on the Armenian Genocide, the President of Armenia said that Armenia
wants Turkey recognize this fact. "But Congress and the U.S. State
Department is unlikely to make decisions based on our wishes and
opinions," the president of Armenia said.

SITUATION WITH WASTE MANAGEMENT AND HALTING FOREST LOSS IN ARMENIA WORSE THAN IN THE WORLD IN AVERAGE: EXPERT

ArmInfo
2010-03-10 16:38:00

ArmInfo. Armenia cannot understand that today’s ecology is tomorrow’s
economy, said Karine Danielyan, Chairperson of the Association For
Sustainable Development, in a press conference at De Facto Club
on Wednesday.

Drawing parallels between Armenia and other countries, K. Danielyan
said that ecologists are most of all concerned about waste management
and forest loss where the situation is worse than in the world
in average. "One may get an impression that the government signs
international conventions but acts in its favor. As a result, desertion
scales may grow. The ecological situation in Yerevan is critical. To
correct the situation we have agreed with the Yerevan Municipality
to set up an Ecology Council," K. Danielyan said. As regards positive
changes, she highlighted that the government reckons with the public
opinion when settling many problems. "We can see that on the examples
of the construction of a gold recovery plant in Sotk and alienation
of the area of Jrvezh forestry," she said.

Nevertheless, she said that the government is not always ready
to meet the demands by public organizations. For instance, she
said, the decision of the Committee on Fulfillment the Aarhus
Convention to discuss the problem of Dalma gardens with NGOs was not
implemented. A similar decision was made also regarding development
of the Tekhut copper and molybdenum deposit, but it is still unknown
if the Government will listen to the Committee on Fulfillment of the
Aarhus Convention. "Our efforts bring no results, since Armenia has
not understood that today’s ecology is tomorrow’s economy. We must
fight for this ideology to be laid in the basis of activity of the
World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. At present they operate on quite
different ideology of unprofitable economy and neo-economy," she
said. Karine Danielyan highlighted that green economy is developed
in the world at present. "It is very important for us to have exact
criteria, indicators and indexes of green economy," she said. Danielyan
recalled that she raised the given issues at the Global Environment
Forum in Bali on Feb 20-26 and at the 11th Special Session of the
UNEP Governing Council. The problems of biodiversity and forest loss
and climate changes were discussed at the forums.

DAVUTOGLU REVEALS ANKARA’S STEPS PROVIDING US OBAMA USES GENOCIDE

Noyan Tapan
March 10, 2010

ANKARA, MART 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
had a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to the US Namik Tan, who was
recalled to Ankara following the endorsement of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution by the US House Foreign Relations Committee.

According to the Turkish "Stargazete", Davutoglu-Tan discussed Ankara’s
further steps providing US President Barack Obama uses Genocide in
his April 24 speech.

Thus, providing Obama uses Genocide, Ankara will freeze ,2 billion
deal on F-35 fighter jet and 14 CH-47 Chinook helicopter, as well
as Patriot Missile sale talks. Ankara will also limit the support to
the US over Iran and Afghanistan.

RA FM NOT TO MEET OSCE CO-CHAIRS IN PARIS

news.am
March 9 2010
Armenia

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will not meet OSCE Co-Chairs
within the framework of RA President’s visit to France, RA Foreign
Ministry Press Secretary Tigran Balayan informed NEWS.am.

March 9, Serzh Sargsyan left for a 3-day official visit to France.

He will hold meetings with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Senate
representatives and other high-ranking officials.

Armenia-France relations, as well as Armenia-Turkey normalization
and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be in focus in Paris.

As NEWS.am reported previously, recently Azerbaijani Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov met with OSCE Co-Chairs in Paris within the framework
of his visit to France.

This month RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit France
to meet the mediators.

ADVOCATES SAY ARMENIA MEASURE WILL STALL

United Press International UPI
March 9 2010

ANKARA, Turkey, March 9 (UPI) — An Armenian genocide resolution
headed to the full U.S. House of Representatives lacks the political
momentum to pass, a Turkish advocate said.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
passed a non-binding resolution Thursday by a vote of 23-22 that
classifies the 1915 killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire an
act of genocide. The measure passed despite a last-ditch plea by U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from Washington last week as the
resolution made its way for a vote in the full House.

Jim Holmes, the president of the American-Turkish Council, told
Turkey’s English-language daily newspaper Hurriyet that the measure
was likely to stall.

"The resolution has passed the panel vote with the narrowest possible
margin and has no political credibility (in Congress)," he said.

Ankara ahead of the Thursday vote warned the genocide label could
unsettle bilateral cooperation in the region, including key support
from Ankara in the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ankara’s
relationship with Tehran could be a factor as well.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected in Washington
in April to attend an international nuclear security summit. He
expects to meet with ATC leaders during his visit unless he decides to
boycott the Washington summit in protest of the genocide resolution,
Hurriyet added.

Xinhua, China
March 6 2010

Turkish furor over U.S. resolution on genocide

English.news.cn 2010-03-06 05:58:03 FeedbackPrintRSS

by Cinar Kiper

ISTANBUL, March 5 (Xinhua) — Turks are up in arms over the passing of
a resolution by an American congressional committee on Thursday
recognizing the killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

Immediately after the 23-22 vote in favor of the resolution came in,
the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement warning of the
consequences of the decision.

A press release by the government stated the result had been " met
with sorrow" and denounced the resolution accusing the Turkish people
of a crime they did not commit. Turkey’s official, and popular, stance
has been that no genocide was committed in 1915 and it regards the
events as civil strife in wartime claiming the lives of many Turks and
Armenians.

Turks have been very sensitive to genocide allegations; the president
of the Human Rights Association Ozturk Turkdogan told Xinhua, "When
the word genocide comes up, Turks just shut their ears."

Turkdogan added, "Turkey is an ideological nation-state, and like
other ideological nation-states, it has difficulty facing up to its
past."

Former Democratic Left Party (DSP) parliamentarian Teoman Akgur told
Xinhua that the resolution will not pass in the long run, as "some
hero will block it before it becomes a bill." Similar non- binding
resolutions had been passed by the House of Representatives’ Foreign
Relations Committee in 2000, 2005 and 2007, but all of which had been
blocked by White House pressure from going to a general House vote.

Yet the office of the prime minister warned, "We worry that the
passing of this resolution by the committee despite all our
admonitions might harm Turkish-U.S. relations and might halt the
Turkey-Armenia normalization process."

Retired Consul General Mengu Buyukdavras told Xinhua that because
Turkey and America have enjoyed a special relationship since the
1950s, "Turkey will not be quick to forgive and forget America’s
passing of the resolution, but it would be the Turkish- Armenian
relationship that would suffer the most."

INFLUENCE ON TURKEY-ARMENIA TIES

Turkey and Armenia have been bogged down in the row over the deaths of
Armenians and have no diplomatic or economic ties since Armenia
declared its independence in 1991.

In October, the two countries signed historic deals on normalizing
ties and reopening their borders after decades of hostilities. The
agreements need to be ratified by both countries’ parliaments before
taking effect.

Regarding the "normalization protocols" signed in Zurich last October,
writer and journalist Cengiz Aktar told Xinhua, "It is now impossible
to bring them up for approval, even the (ruling) Justice and
Development Party’s parliamentarians might not support it. The
normalization process is now in deep-freeze."

Burak Kuntay, head of the American Research Center at Bahcesehir
University, told Xinhua that relations with Armenia had been
progressing positively in recent years, but "being labeled murderers
from the other side of the world can only hurt this process."

Kuntay is certain that the resolution would not pass. He said the
close 23-22 vote was a victory for Turkey.

But according to him, this would not have much of an impact on
U.S.-Turkey relations: the House of Representatives has already passed
a resolution in 1974 recognizing the genocide and in 1981 former U.S.
President Ronald Reagan used the word "genocide" in a speech.

"Relations might not be as they were before, but that too will settle
into a routine," Kuntay added.

MEDIA FUELLING FLAMES

Turkdogan, Aktar and Kuntay agree that this affair has been blown out
of proportion by the media, which has been skewing information. Kuntay
said the media has been presenting the issue as if the House has
already accepted genocide, when it is just a sub-committee passing a
non-binding resolution similar to previous ones shot down by the
administration.

As for Turkey’s ambassador to Washington Namik Tan being recalled to
Ankara for consultation Thursday night, Turkey also took similar
action in 2007 House vote, but soon its then ambassador Nabi Sensoy
returned back to duty.

Yet Kuntay admits the media plays a great role in how the public
perceive this, and Aktar said "Turkey already sees this as Americans
having accepted the Armenian genocide, and that this amounted to a
public diplomacy disaster."

Arutz Sheva, Israel
March 6 2010

Obama Breaks Campaign Promise on Armenian Genocide Bill

Reported: 22:45 PM – Mar/06/10

(IsraelNN.com) Despite campaign promises to support a resolution using
the term `genocide’ to define the World War I-era killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks, the Barack Obama administration has
recently expressed its strong opposition to the approval of such a
resolution. United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
told reporters in Guatemala on Friday that the Obama government would
`work very hard to make sure it does not go to the House floor.’

ash.aspx/181903

The Washington Note
March 2, 2010 Tuesday 10:47 AM EST

Armenian Genocide Resolution Could Imperil Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation

Mar. 2, 2010 (The Washington Note delivered by Newstex) —

I attended a media briefing at the Turkish Embassy yesterday, during
which a group of visiting Turkish Foreign Affairs Committee members
urged the U.S. House of Representatives not to pass H.R. 252 – which
accuses Turkey of committing genocide against Armenians in 1915 and is
scheduled to be voted on by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on
Thursday.

In addition to reiterating Turkey’s long-held position that the events
of 1915 do not constitute genocide, the delegates warned that the
resolution could imperil Turkey’s ongoing and unprecedented efforts to
normalize relations with Armenia.

Over at Foreign Policy Passport, Joshua Keating concludes that
Turkey’s warnings suggest that it is not genuinely committed to the
negotiations with Armenia and may only be taking part due to U.S.
pressure.

With all due respect, I don’t think Keating’s analysis is a correct
interpretation of Turkey’s perspective on this issue.

Here is what Keating says in his post:

It seems a bit contradictory to me that the Turkish government on the
one hand says it sees the Armenian rapprochement as vital to its own
national interest, but on the other hand says the U.S. resolution will
imperil it.
Sensing that there was some misunderstanding in the room, I asked one
of the panelists – AK Party Deputy of External Affairs Suat
Kiniklioglu – to explain the domestic political dynamics within Turkey
and why the resolution would make it more difficult to reach an
agreement with Armenia.

Kiniklioglu’s response was that passing the resolution would likely
strengthen radical, nationalist elements in both Turkey and Armenia
who oppose the accords and who would use the resolution to push their
own agendas.

It appears that the White House, which has not taken a formal position
on this week’s vote, understands these sensitivities as well.

Here is what White House spokesman Mike Hammer said, when asked about
the resolution:

Our interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just
acknowledgment of the facts. We continue to believe that the best way
to advance that goal is for the Armenian and Turkish people to address
the facts of the past as a part of their ongoing efforts to normalize
relations.

Reading between the lines, Hammer seems to be implicitly acknowledging
the Turkish position, which is that the resolution would complicate
the current effort by Turkey and Armenia to conduct a joint historical
review of the facts.

Notwithstanding my own serious doubts about whether Turkey and Armenia
will successfully normalize their relations, it is not difficult to
understand how H.R. 252 might make that task more difficult.

— Ben Katcher