Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Ukrainian Globalist
March 5 2010

Turkey has recalled its Ambassador from the USA

Diplomatic relations between Turkey and the USA are being suspended

In brief: Thus in response to the US Resolution the official Ankara
has recalled its Ambassador from Washington suspending thus diplomatic
relations with the USA.

Turkey has recalled its Ambassador from Washington. The reason is the
Resolution on recognizing Turkish genocide of Armenian people in the
beginning of the last century adopted by the US parliament.

Turkey does not find itself guilty of such violation of human rights
as genocide of Armenians. Besides Turkish authorities has recently
started negotiations with Armenia which have been being suspended for
several decades. And now official Ankara worries that the US
Resolution can make negative affect to establishing peace and
diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.

Thus in response to the US Resolution the official Ankara has recalled
its Ambassador from Washington suspending thus diplomatic relations
with the USA. Besides, the Minister of foreign relations of Turkey has
shown the intention to close the US-Turkish airbase and to recall
Turkish military forces from Afghanistan.

Azerbaijan is going to follow Turkey and recall its Ambassador from
the USA. Azeri authorities are also concerned about breaching of the
peace in their region by the official Washington. Azeri deputies
advise the US authorities to revise their own history on the subject
of genocide of Indian tribes and Africans before judging events
occured without their participation.

Maria Velikanova
2010-03-05 14:37, Society.
y-has-recalled-its-ambassador-from-the-usa

ITN, UK
March 5 2010

Turkey to push peace with Armenia despite US vote

Fri Mar 5 2010 12:40:26

Turkey said on Friday it would push on with efforts to normalise ties
with Armenia despite a US congressional panel vote labelling as
genocide the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

Turkish leaders reacted with fury over the approval on Thursday of the
non-binding resolution by the US House of Representatives Foreign
Affairs Committee, although it was unclear whether the bill would be
considered by the full House.

President Abdullah Gul, whose visit to Armenia in 2008 led to the
peace initiative, said the US vote would hurt efforts to bring peace
and stability to the South Caucasus, a volatile region with pipelines
taking oil and gas to the West.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the US action had jeopardised
chances of Turkey’s parliament ratifying peace accords with Armenia,
but that the government would push on with efforts to resolve disputes
with its old foe.

"We are determined to press ahead with normalisation of relations with
Armenia," Davutoglu told a news conference hours after Turkey recalled
its ambassador from Washington.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned of possible damage to relations
with the United States, which could undermine President Barack Obama’s
goal of building a "strategic partnership" with Turkey, a Muslim, yet
secular country.

281ef3af7ce.html

GENOCIDE RESOLUTION PASSES THROUGH COMMITTEE (UPDATED)

4/genocide-resolution-passes-through-committee-2/
March 4, 2010

WASHINGTON-On Thursday, March 4, the House Foreign Affairs Committee
held a hearing on the Armenian Genocide Resolution-H.R. 252. The
resolution passed by a vote of 23 to 22.

The resolution will now be sent to the House of Representatives for
a vote by the full chamber at a date to be set by the Speaker of
the House.

In his introductory remarks, Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), chairman
of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, underlined the undisputed
fact of the Armenian Genocide, noted that the overwhelming majority
of scholars affirm the fact of the genocide, and urged his colleagues
for vote for it. He added, "It is now time for Turkey to acknowledge
the reality of the Armenian Genocide."

The passage of this resolution by the committee is a tribute to the
hard work of the Armenian-American community against substantial
lobbying by the government of Turkey. We hope that this is the first
step towards the United States of America soon joining Canada in
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Turkey Recalls Ambassador

Turkey says it is recalling its ambassador to the U.S. for
consultations following a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I genocide, reported AP.

The move came minutes after the U.S. congressional panel approved
the resolution Thursday.

A government statement said Ambassador Namik Tan was being recalled
with immediate effect.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed the resolution with a
23-22 vote, even though the Obama administration had urged Congress
not to offend Turkey by approving it.

Statement by Hachikian on Committee Passage of Genocide Resolution

Below is a statement by ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian on the vote:

A bipartisan majority today rejected Turkey’s gag rule, setting
the stage for Speaker Pelosi and the full U.S. House to properly
commemorate the Armenian Genocide. The Committee’s message was simple
yet powerful: Turkey doesn’t get a vote or a veto in the U.S.

Congress.

As Americans of Armenian heritage, it holds great meaning to see our
nation move one step closer to putting the painful lessons of the
Armenian Genocide to work in helping to end the cycle of genocide,
in Darfur and around the world.

A moral foreign policy has always been among our strongest assets and
one of the greatest forces for good in the world. Despite Turkey’s
last minute threats and intimidation, Chairman Berman and the House
Foreign Affairs Committee have shown that it’s always the right time
to do the right thing.

Details to follow.

ABDULLA GUL: THE DECISION HAS NO CREDIBILITY VIS-A-VIS THE TURKISH PUBLIC

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2010 12:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Statement by the President of the Republic of Turkey
concerning the passage of H.RES. 252 in the US House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Affairs.

"I regret this decision which I find to be devoid of all reason. The
decision has no credibility vis-a-vis the Turkish public. The adoption
of this text, which is one-sided and far from historical truth, by the
United States House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
was not an action befitting Turkey-US relations. This development will
damage the ongoing efforts towards establishing peace and stability in
the South Caucasus and for lasting friendly relations between peoples.

I consider this decision, taken for political gains, as an injustice
to history and the science of history. Turkey will not be responsible
for the adverse consequences this vote may cause in all areas", –
Mr.Gul said.

APPEALS COURT REJECTS RECUSAL MOTION BY PASHINYAN’S LAWYER
Arman Gharibyan

2010/03/03 | 12:25

court

Mother of slain Karabakh freedom-fighter rips up photo of President
Sargsyan in court

At today’s appeals proceeding to review the case of jailed Haykakan
Zhamanak editor Nikol Pashinyan, defense lawyer Lusineh Sahakyan
introduced a motion calling for the three judge panel to recuse itself,
arguing that they were prejudiced. After a fifteen minute recess,
the court denied the motion.

Attorney Sahakyan argued that all three judges Serzhik Avetisyan,
Simonyan and Khachatryan had a tainted record as they had participated
in several March 1 appeals cases and had determined that those indicted
had indeed been guilty of serious law violations. Mrs.

Sahakyan noted that Pashinyan was also indicted on the same charges,
Part 1, Article 225, of the RoA Criminal Code, and thus, the court
wasn’t capable of conducting a fair and impartial trial of her client.

"You have sentenced clearly innocent people and have assisted in the
political persecution of others," stated the attorney.

Nikol Pashinyan said in court that he had expected the judges to
reject the recusal motion. "Judges in our court system decide nothing
independently, thus I react to the serious demeanour on your faces
philosophically," he said.

Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Koryun Piloyan argued that the motion
to recuse was baseless and purely a politically inspired declaration.

Once the judges had read out the motion denial, Mrs. Parandzem,
a mother of a slain Karabakh freedom-fighter, stood up in court and
publicly tore up a photo of President Serzh Sargsyan. She yelled out,
"If you are carrying out orders, then here’s one for you to chew
over." The woman was escorted from the court by bailiffs.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV: KARABAKH PROBLEM LINGERING AND COMPLICATED

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2010 11:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Karabakh problem is lingering and complicated,
said Mikhail Gorbachev, the first President of the USSR.

"I can’t suggest any solution. Lands were divided and borders
determined during and after the 1917 revolution. At that, neighbors
came to be dependent on each other, with Moscow acting as arbiter.

Problems always emerged. Azerbaijan and Armenia accused me of
supporting the opposite side. However, it’s not so," Mr. Gorbachev
told Kommersant daily.

"National conflicts can’t be resolved if there should be winners and
losers. Both sides should reach a consensus," he said.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988, as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994
(when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most
of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions is
now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are
holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

MEZHGOSBANK PRESIDENT, RA PM DISCUSS PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2010 11:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met
with President of Russia’s Mezhgosbank Igor Suvorov to discuss the
programs implemented by the bank in Armenia, the government’s press
office reported.

The two men also referred to Nairit plant investment program and
possibility of plant re-equipment.

The RA PM expressed willingness to assist the bank’s activities.

TURKEY’S STATE BROADCASTER ORDERED TO PAY REPARATIONS TO HRANT DINK’S FAMILY

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2010 20:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s state broadcaster has been ordered to pay
reparations to slain journalist Hrant Dink’s family for a documentary
it broadcast that implied he was a perpetrator in a 1978 massacre in
southern Turkey.

"Þahlarýn Labirenti" (The Labyrinth of the Shahs) was a Turkish Radio
and Television Corporation, or TRT, documentary that originally aired
in December 2008 and investigated the Kahramanmaraþ massacre of 1978,
in which more than 100 people died in clashes between local Alevis
and Sunnis.

Turkey’s infamous "deep state" was later alleged to have played a
role in organizing the clashes.

Okkeþ Þendiller, who was one of the suspects in the massacre before
becoming a Kahramanmaraþ deputy, alleged in the documentary that Dink
was one of the perpetrators of the killings. The film showed Dink’s
photograph while Þendiller said Dink and the leftist organizations
he founded with his friends initiated the incident.

Dink’s family opened a case against TRT, Þendiller and production
company Bey Yapým, alleging Dink had been insulted.

As a result of the case concluded last week, all suspects have been
ordered to pay 20,000 Turkish Liras in reparations.

"Hrant had dedicated his life to brotherhood and the friendship of
people, it was unacceptable that he would be considered responsible
for such a massacre," said Dink family lawyer Fethiye Cetin. "Those
allegations have caused the family so much suffering."

The family was expected to donate the reparations to a foundation,
as they have done in the past for other similar cases in which the
family opened cases for insults against Dink.

Dink was a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist and the editor in
chief of the multi-lingual weekly Agos. In January 2007, he was shot
and killed in front of his newspaper’s office in Istanbul’s central
Þiþli district.

The confessed murder suspect, Ogun Samast, was arrested within a couple
of days. Dink’s family alleges that police intelligence officers failed
to act on many pieces of intelligence that nationalist circles were
planning to kill Dink long before the actual murder.

Although there have been official inspection reports detailing police
and military negligence prior to the murder, the officials allegedly
responsible have not yet been brought to justice.

With the journalist’s murder case ongoing, Cetin said threats against
Agos were continuing but added that authorities were increasingly
taking their complaints into consideration.

GEORGIA OPENING RUSSIAN BORDER CROSSING FOR ARMENIA’S SAKE – MP

Rustavi-2 TV
Feb 28 2010
Georgia

Georgia has agreed to open the Qazbegi-Verkhniy Lars crossing on
the Georgian-Russian border for the sake of Armenia, which needs a
land route linking it to Russia, its main trading partner, a senior
Georgian MP has said. The crossing – which Russia unilaterally closed
in July 2006 – will be opened to limited traffic from 1 March.

In remarks broadcast by Rustavi-2 TV on 28 February, Irakli Kavtaradze,
the deputy chairman of the Georgian parliamentary foreign relations
committee said:

"We had been holding negotiations about opening this crossing at
Armenia’s request. The crossing is truly of vital importance to them.

Let me remind you that a large portion of their overland cargoes
can be transported on this route [from Russia through Georgia]. It
was precisely this that was the main guiding factor in our taking
a positive approach to this issue [i.e. agreeing to opening the
crossing]."

In her introduction to Kavtaradze’s report, Rustavi-2’s presenter
noted that Georgian visas would not be issued at Qazbegi and said
that Georgia itself "expects no economic or political benefit from
the opening of the crossing".

MORE FOREIGNERS VISIT NKR

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2010 14:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Despite the global financial crisis, the total number
of foreign citizens having visited the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in
the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters of 2009 increased by 10% as compared
to the similar period of 2008, according to the data provided by the
NKR MFA Consular Service.

Last year, tourists from Mozambique, Guyana, Venezuela, and Mauritania
visited the Nagorno Karabakh Republic for the first time. Among
the tourists, citizens of the US, France, Iran, Great Britain, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, Italia, Poland, India, and the CIS
countries, especially Russia and Turkmenistan, are prevailing.

Foreigners’ interest in Artsakh continues growing. True information
about the Karabakh issue, the history of the country and the
inculcation of democratic principles in the NKR contribute to this
process, reported the NKR MFA Press Service.