Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

HULIQ, NC
Oct 14 2007

La Stampa recognizes the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1918

La Stampa is one of Italy’s best-known and most widely sold Italian
daily newspapers. The article talks about the cruel past of the
Armenian people who were massacred by the Ottoman Empire and forced
to march in the hot deserts.

`The cruel past and alarming present tend to unite, forming a crisis
which can call into question Turkey’s traditional strategic ties with
the U.S. and NATO. In addition, the current dissension with
Washington and Paris can block Turkey’s thorny path toward the
European Union. An explosive and critical mass is being accumulated
in Europe-aspired Turkey. And on the top of this mass appears one
word – Genocide, the tabooed and defamatory word. This awful word has
pealed in the Democrat-dominated U.S. Congress as a final verdict
that cannot be appealed. This word has come to define the Armenian
`marches of death’ that extended from the Anatolian northeast to
Syrian deserts in 1915-1918. The Ottoman Empire had no mercy on
children, women and old people. This slaughter is described in
historical documents, bulletins, testimony of witnesses, novels by
Franz Werfel and recently shot films,’ the article says.

`Many historians say it was the first genocide of the 20th century,
maybe because Young Turks, redial reformators and patriots, their
powerful military heirs and secular governments controlled by them,
never recognized the fact of the Genocide. They always denied this
terrifying word and chilling statistics which stubbornly reminded of
1 million 800 thousand killed Armenians. They kept on insisting that
the casualties reached 200 thousand only as result of the chaos
inherent to war. Since those times, the Turkish authorities have
followed state historical revisionism. The incumbent Erdogan and
Gul-led Islamist government is not an exception,’ La Stampa reports.

ognizes-the-armenian-genocide-of-1915-1918

Day.az, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2007

Azeri analyst sees pro-Armenian US move as assault on Islam

A heavyweight Azerbaijani political analyst has described the recent
decision of the US House of Representatives foreign relations
committee to approve the resolution on the alleged genocide of the
Armenians in the Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as part of the attack of the
West on the Muslim world and US plans to disintegrate big Muslim
countries such as Turkey. "The West the Christian world is interested
in continuing the assault on Muslim countries, destroy bigger Muslim
states and create new Christian countries out of their territories",
Vafa Quluzada told Russian language website Day.az on 11 October
2007. The following is the Day.az website report headlined "Vafa
Quluzada: `The Armenian lobby in the USA was created by the Americans
themselves to cover up their expansion in the world’". Subheadings
have been inserted editorially.

Interview with the political analyst and the former Azerbaijani state
advisor on foreign policy issues, Vafa Quluzada.

Policy of disintegration

[Correspondent] What do you think about the situation around the
resolution on the recognition of "the genocide of Armenians", which
was approved at the foreign relations committee of the House of
Representatives of the US Congress?

[Quluzada] Certainly, it is a very unpleasant fact not only for
Turkey, but also for the entire Muslim world. Let us remember the
numerous remarks in the media of Muslim countries following the
collapse of the Soviet Union saying that the front line will now lie
not between Communism and the free world, as it was put then, but
between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

And the developments prove it: the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq,
the current situation concerning Iran, which they also want to
resolve by means of war, and now the deteriorating relations between
the USA and Turkey. The US-Turkish relations were at the highest
level when the Soviet Union existed. Turkey was the outpost and front
line for the USA. Now the USA destroys big regional states one after
another. Washington seems to want small states which can be ruled
easily. As a result, Iraq has been disintegrated into three parts,
while Afghanistan can even never be mentioned. Now it is Turkey’s
turn coming.

Assault on Muslim world

Therefore, Armenia may attack Turkey with the assistance of any big
power and occupy part of Turkey’s territory some time in future in
the same way as Russia once set Armenia against us and occupied part
of Azerbaijani territories. Then, a Geneva or Vienna group for Turkey
will be set up like the OSCE Minsk Group for us [international
mediators dealing with the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia], within the framework of
which the world powers will beat the air. The West the Christian
world is interested in continuing the assault on Muslim countries,
destroy bigger Muslim states and create new Christian countries out
of their territories. Thus, we are situated in a very dangerous
region.

"Great actors"

[Correspondent] So, does it mean you are convinced that the Congress
will pass this pro-Armenian resolution?

[Quluzada] I am convinced of one thing: this issue was never raised
when the Americans did not need it. But now everyone, including both
[US President] George Bush and [US Secretary of State] Condoleeza
Rice, turns out to be helpless. By the way, both of them are great
actors. They pretend to be upset in front of TV cameras as if they
were unhappy that their own Congress makes such a decision. I do not
believe it and think that it is George Bush and Condoleezza Rice who
stand behind this decision.

US behind Armenian lobby?

[Correspondent] It means again that in fact we need to talk not only
about the success of the Armenian lobby, but also about the
coincidence of the interests of the Armenians and those of the US
official circles.

[Quluzada] The Armenian lobby was created by the US administration.
If otherwise, who would allow the Armenian Assembly to sit in the
building of the Congress? I was there and talked to members of this
assembly. Then, why do not the Americans let, say, the [Palestinian]
Fatah organization open an office, for example, in the White House?
But they made this concession to the Armenian lobby. [Passage
omitted: accusations of Armenia as a terrorist state]

Despite all this the Armenian Assembly has meetings in the building
of the Congress. I believe that the Americans established and support
it in order to cover up their expansion in the world.

No need for Turkey?

[Correspondent] Is it good for the USA to spoil relations with one of
its few allies in the Muslim world Turkey under the current
circumstances of confrontation between the civilizations?

[Quluzada] This is the way we describe the relations between the USA
and Turkey. In reality, it is a matter of propaganda. Such a gigantic
power as the USA can do without Turkey. Let us see what kinds of
measure Ankara will take. The US defence secretary has already
suggested that Turkey may cease fuel supplies for the US army in Iraq
as if Iraq did not have its own fuel… [ellipses as published]

War against Kurdish rebels

[Correspondent] So, which steps can Turkey take in response? There
are calls in Ankara to limit cooperation with the USA and
independently start war against Kurdish rebels in the north of Iraq.

[Quluzada] I think that in any case Turkey will not take the USA’s
opinion into consideration when defending its own interests in Iraq.
Turkey may send its troops to Kurdistan [historic area in northern
Iraq], destroy the PKK [Kurdish Worker Party], which is globally
recognized as a terrorist organization, and help their brothers of
Turkic origin who live in Kerkuk [northern Iraq]. If I were in the
place of Turks, I would seize Kerkuk and separate it from Iraq. It
would be a good response to the recognition of "the genocide of the
Armenians" at the US Congress. But I do not know if they will do it
and if they have power to do it.

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 11 2007

Tosunyan: Armenia’s inflation level lowest in CIS

YEREVAN, October 11. /ARKA/. Armenia has the lowest inflation level
in the CIS. During the 4th international banking conference `Money
transfers, retail banking services’ President of the Association of
Russian Banks Garegin Tosunyan said that contrastive analysis of
Armenia’s position in the CIS territory testifies to this.

`Armenia (2.9%) is followed by Kyrgyzstan with 5.6% inflation and
Belarus (7%). In Russia and the CIS states this index is at the level
of 9%,’ he said.

Tosunyan also pointed out by the GDP index Armenia among the CIS
states ranks the second after Azerbaijan.

`13.4% GDP growth in Armenia is a rather serious index which should
be retained for a long time,’ he said and added that in Azerbaijan
this index is at 34.5%, in Kazakhstan – 10.6%, in Russia – 6.7%, and
in the CIS states the average – 7.5%.

e pointed out that by the index of investments in Armenia’s main
capital also ranks the second (37.1%) after Tajikistan (55.1%).

`This index in Belarus reaches 31.1%, in Russia – 13.5% and in the
CIS – 14%,’ he said.

In this connection Tosunyan pointed out that the countries smaller
and commensurable in the territory or number of population with
Armenia, also including them Switzerland, Lichtenstein or Austria,
occupied a position in the international field which equals them to
the biggest countries by population and square.

0.2% deflation is recorded in Armenia in September 2007 as compared
to December 2006. In September prices for Armenia’s consumer market
increased by 0.7% as compared to August. At the same time, the index
of consumer prices is at 102.7% this September as compared to
September 2006.

In January-September 2007 the inflation made 3.8% as compared to the
same period in 2006, the index for foodstuffs was 104.8%, and for
non-foods it reduced by 1%, and the tariffs for services increased by
4.5%. -0–

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
Oct 12 2007

Azeri spokesman urges Armenia not to delay Karabakh settlement

[Presenter] Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity must be restored and
official Yerevan must abandon steps aimed at dragging out a
settlement of the problem, Xazar Ibrahim, spokesman for the Foreign
Ministry, has said.

[Ibrahim] There is a missing element here. The stance of the
international community regarding the issue is obvious. It says
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity should be restored and the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs have reiterated this. Azerbaijan’s position is
also well known and coincides fully with the international position
on the issue. The single missing element is Armenia’s position, i.e.
the talk is not about inertia, but should be about the missing
element. Therefore, Armenia should understand and the international
community should tell Armenia consistently that its position first of
all harms itself.

RA PRESIDENT WELCOMED ENDEAVORS AIMED AT U.S. CONGRESS RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.10.2007 14:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian commended
endeavors aimed at recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
U.S. Congress.

Recognition of historical truth cannot be harmful for U.S.-Turkey
bilateral relations, said President Kocharian, currently in Brussels.

He noted that despite the tension that emerged after France’s
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish-French commodity
turnover increased 1.5 times during a year.

The RA President also reminded that in the course of 15 years
already, Yerevan has kept on offering Turkey to open dialogue without
preconditions.

October 10, brushing aside White House warnings, the U.S. House
Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the Armenian Genocide resolution
with 27 to 21 votes. The Committee decision opens the way for full
house consideration of the measure.

CONGRESSMAN COSTA DISCUSSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, WATER WOES

KGET 17, CA
Oct 12 2007

BAKERSFIELD – Congressman Jim Costa (D-Calif.) is a member of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee and discussed Thursday a new round
of radio ads pressuring Republicans to back an override of President
Bush’s veto on legislation that would expand the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.

Costa discussed how he feels about the bill as it’s written, as well
as state water issues.

Click the video link to view the interview.

spx?content_id=aa571322-c54d-4134-9912-6a4e7fe5d3e 4

ARMENIA RESOLUTION PUTS U.S., TURKEY IN BIND
By Lydia Gensheimer and Elaine Monaghan, CQ Staff

Congressional Quarterly, DC
056.html
Oct 11 2007

A resolution that the Bush administration warned could fray
U.S. relations with Turkey and open a fresh conflict in Iraq will
reach the House floor before Congress adjourns this year.

In the face of intense pressure from the administration and Turkish
government officials, who visited several congressional offices
Wednesday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted, 27-21, to
approve a non-binding resolution urging President Bush to recognize
as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the former Ottoman
Empire nearly a century ago.

The vote represents another challenge to U.S.-Turkish relations and
further complicates efforts to sustain the U.S. military effort in
Turkey’s neighbor, Iraq. It could also embolden Turkey to invade the
Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said the resolution,
which has 226 cosponsors, would "come to the floor before we leave
on Nov. 16."

Backed by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., the
sole Holocaust survivor in Congress, the measure (H Res 106) was
endorsed by the panel despite pleas from President Bush, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates,
who, like officials in previous administrations, opposed applying
the label of "genocide" to the Armenian deaths.

Turks generally portray the mass killings as only one side of an
interethnic conflict during and after World War I, in which many of
their fellow Muslim Turks also were killed. They want a joint panel
of Turkish and Armenian historians to hammer out a version of history
both sides can agree upon.

Average Turks may not understand that the resolution is not binding and
will be angered by the vote, Turkish politicians and analysts warned.

Turkish people strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq and generally
believe it is now facing a surge in Kurdish militant violence from
northern Iraq as a result. The Turkish government reported this week
that at least 15 Turkish soldiers were killed by Kurdish separatists.

Lawmakers faced a "sobering choice" between wanting to acknowledge
the Armenian tragedy and ensuring the safety of U.S. forces in Iraq
by not alienating Turkey, Lantos said.

Bush said the measure would do "great harm" to relations with Turkey.

Administration officials stressed that its approval could undermine
U.S. policy in the Middle East.

"About 70 percent of all air cargo going into Iraq goes through
Turkey," Gates said. "About a third of the fuel that they consume
goes through Turkey or comes from Turkey."

That message clearly got through to Mike Pence, R- Ind., who voted
against the resolution, saying he nonetheless believed genocide had
been committed.

"I believe this is a season that calls for standing with our troops
first, who are in harm’s way," he said.

Democrats Robert Wexler of Florida and David Scott of Georgia agreed,
saying, respectively, that passage of the resolution will "inflame a
region of the world already under great duress" and that "the Armenian
question is plain as day."

"What was done to them was wrong. The issue is, what is in the best
interest of the national security of the United States?" Scott said.

Others fell in step with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who
has long supported genocide recognition for the Armenians, thousands
of whom make up a vocal and influential community in her home district.

Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said, "We cannot provide genocide denial as
one of the perks of friendship with the United States."

In an unusual gesture, Pelosi was on hand to greet Patriarch Karekin
II, worldwide leader of the 7 million-member Armenian Apostolic Church,
after he gave the opening invocation for Wednesday’s House session.

Democrats said his presence on the day of the vote was a coincidence.

Documents dating back to May showed that the pontiff had been invited
to speak on Oct. 10 by Joe Knollenberg, R-Mich.

Intensive Lobbying The Turkish Embassy and a visiting delegation of
parliamentarians mounted a fierce campaign to stop the resolution,
threatening that Turkey had the power to hamper logistical supply
efforts for troops in Iraq. Pelosi met with Turkish Ambassador Nabi
Sensoy early Wednesday.

Egemen Bagis, a close foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan, said on the eve of the vote that there would be an outcry
if the resolution passed.

"Turkey is not an emirate or a monarchy," he said in a clear dig at
some of the less democratic U.S. allies in the Middle East, "but a
democracy, and public pressure does count."

Asked what Turkey might do, he said he could not say whether it
would affect military cooperation, purchasing, energy cooperation
or logistical supplies to Iraq. "But I’m sure there will be some
reaction. Politically we will have to do something."

The resolution could fuel calls for an invasion of northern Iraq by
Turkish forces to kill members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), blamed by Turkey for more than 30,000 deaths since it launched
its campaign for a Kurdish homeland in 1984. The Turkish government
is seeking parliamentary approval for a potential military incursion
into northern Iraq, and the military already is moving more troops
and equipment to the border.

"This issue is so big in Turkey that if the resolution passes,
the public will demand strong action on behalf of the government,"
a senior U.S. official said. He also predicted that it could lead
to the closure of the base used by U.S. planes. "This will probably
close Incirlik air base and increase the chances of an invasion"
by Turkish forces into Iraq.

Colby Itkowitz and Alan K. Ota contributed to this story.

DM DISCUSSES MILITARY ISSUES WITH U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

ARMENPRESS
Oct 11 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Defense Minister Mikael
Harutunian received today the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,
Debra Cagan, who is paying a two-day visit to Armenia. The meeting
was attended by US Charge d’Affaires a.i. Rudolf Perina.

Seyran Shahsuvarian, a spokesman for the defense ministry, told
Armenpress that the parties spoke about Armenian-American military
cooperation, defense reforms in the Armenian army and U.S. assistance
programs to Armenian Armed Forces.

On behalf of the U.S. Government and the American people Debra Cagan
expressed deep gratitude to Armenian Government and the Ministry of
Defense for contributing to the peacekeeping mission in Iraq.

She said she personally met with Armenian peacekeepers in Iraq
describing them as ‘courageous and brave soldiers.’

TOMAS DE VAAL: THE INFORMATION IN ARMINFO WAS NOT DISTORTED

ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2007

ArmInfo. The information in ArmInfo was not distorted, the British
writer, author of the book on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict "Black
Garden" said in his interview with ArmInfo correspondent, commenting
on the relevant statement disseminated by Azerbaijani media.

To note, the Azerbaijani media disseminated T.de Vaal’s statement in
which he expressed a wish "to make more precise what he had said for
several times during the book’s presentation and in various speeches
in Armenia and to correct what was publicized in ArmInfo". ArmInfo
correspondent asked T. de Vaal to comment on the situation. It turned
out that the author’s pretension arose because of the paragraph, in
which, as it seemed to the author, a statement was ascribed to him
about Nagoro-Karabakh’s possible gaining sovereignty, the statement
being formulated in the following sentence of ArmInfo information:
"He emphasized that ceding of territories, acquisition of sovereignty
status of NK state, Armenia’s keeping the Lachin corridor-these are
issues which the communities of the parties must thoroughly discuss".

However, after a number of clarifications, Tomas de Vaal agreed that
the information publicized in ArmInfo was a "very good one". But the
mentioned sentence, after all, seems dubious to the author. "I didn’t
mean that Nagorno-Karabakh must be independent, and the Lachin corridor
must be under Armenia’s control. I know that it is not advantageous
for Azerbaijan presently or may be always. I prefer to keep agnostic’s
position in these issues. The best solution, I think, is the security
guarantee and a kind of interim status", T. de Vaal said.

However, this sentence was preceded by T. de Vaal’s following
statement, which was made at a press conference in Yerevan and
which even more distinctly shows the author’s real position: "If
Robert Kocharian and Vardan Oskanyan declare publicly what they
have already agreed among themselves, namely, that they are ready
to cede the occupied territories if Azerbaijan guarantees security
and sovereignty of Nagorno-Krabakh, the atmosphere in the peaceful
negotiations and in Azerbaijan itself will fundamentally change".

Moreover, the author said in another sentence that the matter
concerns to the ceding of territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, with
the exception of Lachin corridor.

AZERBAIJANI OFFICER KILLED BY ARMENIAN FORCES NEAR KARABAKH: OFFICIAL

Agence France Presse — English
October 8, 2007 Monday 12:02 PM GMT

Armenian forces have killed an Azerbaijani military officer near the
disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, the Azerbaijani defence ministry
said Monday.

Lieutenant Bulkhasan Melikov was killed when Armenian forces opened
fire on Azerbaijani positions in the Agdam region on Sunday, violating
a ceasefire, defence ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu said.

Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives
and forced about a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

The two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994 but the two countries have
cut direct economic and transport links and failed to negotiate a
settlement on the region’s status.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.