Author: Chakrian Hovsep

Federation of Armenian Organisations in The Netherlands (FAON)
Address: Weesperstraat 91
2574 VS The Hague, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31704490209
Website:
Contact: M. Hakhverdian
E-mail: [email protected]

Press Release

The Hague, 22 April 2010 – On Saturday 24 April 2010 the Armenian community
of Holland will commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by
laying wreaths at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Assen, The Netherlands.
The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. at the cemetery ³De Boskamp². Many
interested and prominent peoplesuch as Member of Dutch Parliament Mr. J.
Voordewind of Christian Union faction and Member of Dutch Senate, Chairman
of SGP faction Mr. G. Holdijk, are expected to attend. The programme is part
of the annual commemoration of the Armenian genocide of 1915, which is
organised by 24 April Committee of the Federation of Armenian Organisations
in the Netherlands (FAON).

The commemoration event started this year on Tuesday 20 April with a rally
and demonstration in Het Plein in The Hague, in front of the Dutch
Parliament. This event was organised by the Joint Armenian Organisations of
The Netherland, namely the 24 April Committee of the Federation of Armenian
Organisations in The Netherlands (FAON) and Hay Tad Netherlands.
Successively Members of Dutch Parliament Mr. Harry van Bommel of Socialist
Party (SP), Mr. Kees van der Staaij of Reformed Party SGP, Mrs. Kathleen
Ferrier of Christian Democrat Appeal (CDA), Mr. Joël Voordewind of Christian
Union (CU) and Mr. Hans ten Broeke of Liberal Party (VVD) addressed the
rally and made very clear that Turkey¹s Armenian Genocide denial is
unacceptable. Ronny Naftaniel, director of Centre for Information and
Documentation Israel (CIDI), gave full support to the Armenians and
condemned Turkish official position on the Armenian Genocide. The
organisations¹ starting shot for a Genocide memorial in The Hague was
explicitly welcomed by him as well as by Mr. J. Voordewind, Mr. H. ten
Broeke and Mr. K. Van der Staaij. Speeches also were delivered by leaders of
24 April Committee and Hay Tad. Duduk music and Armenian songs were also
performed on the stage.

Date: Saturday, 24 April 2010 at 1 p.m.
Place: Cemetery ‘de Boskamp’ in Assen
Address: Boskamp 5 – 9405 NN Assen

INQUIRIES INTO POSSIBLE TURKISH POLICE NEGLIGENCE IN DINK CASE

Hurriyet
APril 21 2010
Turkey

Inspectors searching for signs of police negligence in the murder of
prominent journalist Hrant Dink reportedly ignored important statements
by Turkey’s former police intelligence chief.

According to Wednesday’s edition of the daily Milliyet, former
Intelligence Unit Chief Sabri Uzun’s statement implicated several
police officers in the mishandling of an intelligence report.

On Oct. 23, 2009, inspectors Mustafa Uckuyu and Mehmet Canoglu asked
Uzun through a written statement whether there had been any negligence
in an intelligence report about Dink that they had obtained.

The intelligence report, dated Feb. 17, 2006, said "an action that
would create repercussions would be taken against Dink."

On Nov. 4, 2009, Uzun said in a written statement that there had been
no negligence in the mentioned report. However, after a short while,
Uzun obtained the full version of the mentioned report after realizing
that some information had been hidden from him.

Uzun called the inspectors back and said he wanted to provide
additional information. In his additional response to inspectors,
Uzun said Ali Fuat Yılmazer, a police chief at a lower-ranking
intelligence unit, had hid the report from him. The date of Uzun’s
additional response was Dec. 4, 2009.

Inspectors did not include Uzun’s additional response in their reports,
however. Instead, they wrote Nov. 19 as the date of their inspection
report, suggesting that Uzun’s additional response had arrived later.

Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, was murdered on Jan.

19, 2007, in front of the building of the multi-lingual weekly Agos
in Istanbul’s central Å~^iÅ~_li district, while a juvenile murder
suspect, Ogun Samast, was detained afterwards.

Samast was from the Black Sea province of Trabzon, in which the murder
was alleged to have been organized.

Later, Erhan Tuncel was also detained as a suspected accomplice to
the murder – after which it was revealed that he was also a police
informant.

Police allegedly neglected to protect Dink despite intelligence
reports indicating he was a target.

ILHAM ALIEV : L’ARMENIE EST NOTRE TERRITOIRE HISTORIQUE
Stephane

armenews
22 avril 2010

L’ensemble de la presse rapporte les propos d’Ilham Aliev qui a
pretendu lors d’un conseil des Ministres que " l’Armenie actuelle s’est
formee sur les territoires azerbaïdjanais historiques " le khanlig
d’Iravan " (le khanat d’Erevan), peuple totalement d’Azerbaïdjanais
". " L’Armenie est notre territoire historique. Les Azerbaïdjanais
y ont ete chasses sous differents pretextes, tout comme d’autres
nations ". Il a aussi accuse l’Armenie d’avoir perpetre des nettoyages
ethniques, " contrairement aux Azeris qui ne l’ont jamais fait "…

Reagissant a ces declarations, le porte-parole du parti Republicain
Edouard Charmazanov a declare que " suite aux evenements des derniers
jours, Ilham Aliev est devenu davantage nerveux et ne cache plus
ses ambitions territoriales evidentes vis-a-vis de l’Armenie ". "
Au cours des seize dernières annees l’Azerbaïdjan a fait son possible
pour marginaliser l’Armenie, mais il est evident pour tous que meme
les reserves du petrole et les petrodollars n’aident plus notre voisin.

Aliev n’a plus qu’a nourrir son imagination de reves vides ", a
conclut M. Charmazanov. / Aravot, Hayots Achkhar

Naïra Zohrabian du parti " Armenie prospère ", a estime que ses propos
rappellent ceux d’Erdogan sur l’expulsion de Turquie d’Armeniens
clandestins. Ce genre de declarations " dignes de la mentalite turque
" constituent de gifle non seulement pour le peuple armenien, mais
pour toute la communaute internationale./ Hayastani Hanrapetoutioun

Ambassade de France en Armenie

ARSHILE GORKY MUSEUM WILL OPEN UP IN SEPTEMBER IN ETCHMIADZIN

Tert.am
22.04.10

A museum named after Arshile Gorky – a famous Armenian-American artist
and a genocide survivor – will open up to the public in Etchmiadzin
in September.

Shahen Khachatryan, the Director of the museum, told Tert.am that
the museum is currently under reconstruction.

Presently the museum hosts more than 50 pieces of Gorky’s original
works.

"Arshile Gorky bequeathed his canvases to his sister Varduhi who handed
them to the Holy Etchmiadzin after Gorky’s death," said Khachatryan.

DMITRIY MEDVEDEV: THERE IS HIGH LEVEL OF TRUST AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AS WELL AS THE SPIRIT OF STRATEGICAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN RUSSIA AND ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2010-04-21 11:52:00

ArmInfo. The issues of international and regional agenda, which are
still relevant today, were discussed over today’s meeting between
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Russia Dmitriy
Medvedev in the "Gorki" residence of the Russian president.

As press-service of the Kremlin reported, on the eve of the meeting
Dmitriy Medvedev said that the heads of the two state meet today to
discuss the current situation, the bilateral relations, regional and
international problems.

For his part, Serzh Sargsyan expressed gratitude for invitation and
said that after the last meeting the Armenia foreign policy and other
departments and inter-governmental commissions continued working
intensively. ‘I would like to meet you to discuss the problems of
our bilateral relations, regional security, the present state of
the Armenian-Turkish process and, of course the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict’, – Sargsyan said.

The Head of the Armenian State congratulated D.Medvedev on the opening
of an innovation center in Yerevan. "This is a very good step. I want
to mention that the Armenian Government and the Russian Embassy in
Armenia are intensively working at restoration of the memorial complex
dedicated to Russian officers, who died over the Armenian-Turkish
war",- he said.

Serzh Sargsyan once again thanked his Russian counterpart for the
500 mln USD loan allocated a year ago. "Why am I back on this topic?

Because it is now that we have started receiving a positive effect
from this loan. Over the first quarter we had 5.5% growth in the
gross product. I think we’ll keep on restoring what we lost",- Serzh
Sargsyan concluded.

ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE SCHEDULED SATURDAY

Hartford Courant
April 20 2010
CT

Armenian-Americans from across the state are expected to travel
to Hartford on Saturday for the Day of Remembrance ceremony at the
Capitol.

This is the 95th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide,
when about 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the government of
the Ottoman Empire over an eight-year period.

Ceremonies will begin at 10 o’clock with the raising of the Armenian
flag over the Capitol lawn. A remembrance ceremony with keynote speaker
Prof. Armen Marsoobian of Southern Connecticut State University is
set for 10:30 in the Hall of the House of Representatives.

State Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, and state Rep. Christopher
Wright, D-Bristol, will join about six other state lawmakers at
the ceremony.

"The suffering of the Armenian people was one of the most horrific
events of the 20th century. We must make sure it is recorded by
history in bold ink," Geragosian said.

"It is appropriate that we honor the victims at our state Capitol.

This sends an important message to all the people of our state and
particularly to young people who will follow us," Wright said.

ARMEN AYVAZYAN : LES RELATIONS ARMENO-TURQUES N’ONT AUCUNE PERSPECTIVE
Stephane

armenews
20 avril 2010
ARMENIE

La Turquie ratifiera les protocoles armeno-turcs tôt ou tard, mais cela
ne favorisera pas les interets de l’Armenie a declare le Directeur
du Centre Ararat pour la Recherche Strategique Armen Ayvazyan lors
d’une conference de presse.

En general, les relations armeno-turques n’ont aucune perspective
et leur etablissement est un danger a dit l’analyste. Rappelant les
evenements qui ont suivi la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, Armen Ayvazyan
a expose : " l’Allemagne a accepte sa culpabilite, elle a rembourse
la Russie et la Pologne avec Kaliningrad et Gdansk et a paye des
milliards a l’Israël. Seulement après cela il est devenu possible
d’etablir la paix. Aujourd’hui nous avons un etat, le successeur de
l’Empire Ottoman, qui est un pays fasciste qui execute une politique
raciste et soutient la strategie anti-armenienne de l’Azerbaïdjan. "

HULIQ.com, SC
April 17 2010

Benefits of Armenia If Ratifying Protocols Before Turkey

The position of the government of Armenia so far has been if Turkey
ratifies the protocols, signed with Armenia last year to normalize
relations, Armenia would move quickly ratifying it without any delays.
Turkey is dragging the ratification of the those protocols in the
parliament tying them to relations with Azerbaijan. But what if
Armenia moves on and ratifies them first? Surprisingly, there are
benefits here for the entire process.

The reigning public opinion toward ratification of Turkish Armenian
normalization protocols is that Armenia needs it more than Turkey
because Turkey has closed its border with Armenia and will open it for
trade after normalization is achieved. While there is truth in this
Turkey needs that border to be open as much as Armenia. The eastern
provinces of Turkey would benefit from the increased trade. Westward
moving Armenian goods would pass through Turkey (not for free of
course), and Turkish Armenian open border would serve as a trade link
between Middle East and Russia. After all, Turkey did not close that
border because it had a problem with Amenia, but because it made a
sacrifice for Azerbaijan, siding with it in Nagorno Karabakh issue.

The word "sacrifice" is important term here. As veteran Turkish
journalist Mehmed Ali Birand writes in April 14th issue of Hurriyet,
many in Turkey don’t see the same mutual care and sacrifice in
Azerbaijan for Turkish needs. Thus, Turkey is sacrificing its trade
with Armenia and its EU ambitions by keeping a border with a
neighboring country closed in the 21st century. Europeans, of course,
do not understand this and say that an EU aspiring country should not
have closed border with a neighbor.

Thus, Turkey conditions ratifying the Armenian normalization protocols
with Azerbaijan and Armenia weight for Turkish ratification to make
its own move. But what would happen if Armenia becomes first to ratify
those protocols?

Many in Armenia may oppose this view. For them the concern is that
Turkey and Azerbaijan will look at that as a sign o weakness. They
think Turkey and Azerbaijan may conclude that Armenia was quick to
ratify it because it needs the open border.

However, the short answer is that Armenia should ratify the protocols
first because when it signed them, it believed this is the right thing
to do. Armenia should first ratify the protocols because that would
show an international leadership of looking forward and beyond things.
That would put Turkey in a very difficult position and possibly speed
up the Nagorno Karabakh process as well.

The dynamic of the international relations today considers reliable
those countries that show leadership and stick to their word. Already
for more than 6 months Turkey keeps saying left and right that it is
faithful to its commitment to the protocols and taking necessary
steps. The latest were in Washington. However, no practical steps are
seen. Protocols are not ratified and the border is close.

If Armenia, on the other hand, ratifies the protocols before Turkey
that move will put Turkey in a very difficult and uneasy position in
front of the international community. What would Turkey be able to say
to the international community after Armenia ratifies those protocols?
How would Turkey reason its own delay after that? It would put Turkey
in a situation that unless the parliament takes an action ratifying
the protocols the executive branch of the government will have
tremendous difficulties explaining the Westerners and the Russians why
it is unable to ratify the protocols.

Then Turkey would have three options. The first, is to keep playing
with the same rule sand dragging the issue demanding concessions from
Armenia on Nagorno Karabakh issue. This option would be a weaker
choice. Just today, the U.S. State Department said that the U.S. wants
to see "Turkey and Armenia ratify those protocols, normalize
relations, open borders." Thus, this first choice is less likely to be
the followup if Armenia ratifies the protocols first.

The second option for Turkey would be to follow Armenia and ratify
those protocols immediately. Otherwise, they would risk being the
unreliable partner in the region. Turkey, aspiring to be an EU member
and a regional leader should not want the label of being unreliable.
In case Armenia ratifies the protocols before April 24 (the date when
Armenians commemorate the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian
genocide) and Turkey does not followup it would give the U.S.
president more grounds to keep his campaign promise and call the sad
events in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkish leadership is very
sensitive to this definition and denies the genocide claim.

The third option for Turkey is to help Azerbaijan to see the reality
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and bring Azerbaijan to more
constructive position, thus making a progress to the solution of
Nagorno Karabakh issue. If Turkey follows the second option it would
go without Azerbaijan. But if Turkey wants to keep its word given to
Azerbaijan it may one day realize that Azerbaijan is being the problem
in this conflict refusing to recognize people’s right to self
determination. So if Turkey can show Azerbaijan that after so many
bellicose statements it’s impossible to convince the Armenian
population of Nagorno Karabakh to be back under Azerbaijan’s control,
then that would, in turn, speed up the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
resolution. Then Azerbaijan may show signs that it is prepared to
fully respect the UN charter on people’s right to self determination,
which in turn brings progress in Armenia Azerbaijan relations. This is
what Turkey wanted to see in the past two decades.

In our view, if Armenia ratifies the Turkish-Armenian normalization
protocols Turkey will either go with the second or the third option.
If Armenia ratifies the protocols early next week before April 24,
considering there is less time for Turkey to convince Azerbaijan,
Turkey may simply go with the second option. In fact, today Turkish
foreign minister said he will leave for Baku and Tehran. In Baku he
will discuss the dynamics of the recent Turk-Armenian and U.S.-Turkish
meetings.

Looking from the above perspective Armenia would benefit in many ways
by becoming the first to ratify the protocols. It will seriously
challenge Turkey by showing leadership in relations. After all,
improving relations in the 21st century does not mean who needs it
most. We all need better relations. This is why the European countries
created EU.

In conclusion, Armenian leadership and the decision making authorities
know better and know more. They make their decisions based on
information not available to us. This article is just a
review-analysis. However, when Armenia and Turkey signed the protocols
last year in Zurich to normalize mutual relations, they did not do it
conditioning by other site’s ratification, but because it was the
right thing to do.

Armenia signed the protocols because the government decided it meets
the Armenian national interest and is a good political strategic
decision. In the same way, it may well surprise Turkey and the
international community by ratifying them because those two protocols
meet its national interest and are good from strategic point of view.

Written by Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com

nefits-armenia-if-ratifying-protocols-turkey

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
April 17 2010

DavutoÄ?lu to rush to Baku, Tehran after Washington talks

In an apparent sign of Ankara’s foreign policy priorities, Foreign
Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu will pay visits to neighboring Azerbaijan and
Iran next week, following intense talks with US officials in
Washington on the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey and
on Iran’s controversial nuclear program. DavutoÄ?lu, who accompanied
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an to a nuclear security summit in
the US capital on Monday and Tuesday, stayed in Washington after
ErdoÄ?an’s departure and had talks with senior US officials.

Speaking at a press conference at the Turkish Embassy in Washington on
Thursday, DavutoÄ?lu recalled a meeting held between ErdoÄ?an and US
President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the nuclear summit and said
issues concerning Iran, developments in the Caucasus and the process
of normalization with Armenia were on the agenda of the meeting.
DavutoÄ?lu’s press conference was held after his meeting with US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The meeting marked their third
since the beginning of the week.

`We are convinced that a window of opportunity for a diplomatic
resolution still exists. We will continue doing our best on this
issue,’ DavutoÄ?lu was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. He
underlined that during their meetings with US officials they clearly
reiterated Turkey’s position favoring diplomatic means instead of
imposing sanctions on the neighboring country to deal with the dispute
surrounding its nuclear program.

`We plan to share with Iran particularly our impressions of the
meetings we had with the US administration by going to Iran in the
shortest time possible,’ DavutoÄ?lu said, adding that he would visit
Tehran next week.

`We want neither military conflict in our region nor the slowing down
of our region’s economic dynamism via new sanctions,’ he said, while
also stressing Turkey’s firm opposition to any country possessing
nuclear weapons.

On Friday, DavutoÄ?lu was scheduled to arrive in Brasà – lia to have talks
with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil and Turkey
— which both hold nonpermanent seats on the UN Security Council and
are reluctant to back a Washington push to impose sanctions as a way
out of the diplomatic standoff over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions — are
studying an alternative proposal to deal with Iran’s controversial
nuclear program.

`Aliyev’s absence loss of opportunity’
During his visit to Baku on Monday, he will have a detailed exchange
of views with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev concerning the
Turkish side’s meetings in Washington this week, DavutoÄ?lu said,
apparently referring to ErdoÄ?an’s meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan and his meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian in particular.

`We will also have consultations [with Aliyev] concerning the steps we
will take from now on,’ he added.

Reiterating Turkey’s uneasiness with the fact that Azerbaijan was not
invited to the nuclear summit even though Armenia was extended an
invitation, DavutoÄ?lu said Turkey did its best to convince US
officials to invite Azerbaijan to the summit. He, nonetheless, also
noted that the US side informed the Turkish side of its `objective
reasoning’ for not inviting Azerbaijan.

`But of course, the presence of Armenia, Turkey and the co-chairs of
the Minsk process [at the summit] was a very important opportunity,’
he said, referring to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev’s participation in the summit.

The Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), the three co-chairs of which are France, Russia and the
US, has striven to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a
territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

`In my opinion, if Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev had been here,
the positive meetings we have held so far could have resulted in even
more progress; a very important opportunity has been missed. I’m
saying this with sincerity and from the heart,’ DavutoÄ?lu said.

Recalling that Ambassador Feridun SinirlioÄ?lu, the Foreign Ministry
undersecretary, last week paid consecutive visits first to Yerevan and
then to Baku as ErdoÄ?an’s special envoy, DavutoÄ?lu said Turkey
listened to Aliyev’s fundamental stance and concerns about the issue.
He didn’t elaborate on whether he meant the issue of the absence of an
invitation to the summit or the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

DavutoÄ?lu highlighted that he would travel to Azerbaijan soon after
wrapping up his visit to Brazil `not even spending time with [my]
family,’ and added, `That’s to say, we won’t let even one day pass.’

Following talks with Sarksyan earlier this week, ErdoÄ?an said
maintaining regional peace is among the fundamental elements of
Armenia and Turkey’s efforts for the normalization of their relations;
thus, the resolution of the territorial dispute between Armenia and
Azerbaijan is naturally linked to this process.

ErdoÄ?an’s remarks came when reminded of Sarksyan’s comments on the
issue, which were made after their meeting. In remarks delivered at a
gathering of the Armenian community, Sarksyan made clear that his
country would not accept Turkey’s imposition of the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute as a precondition to the normalization of
relations.

17 April 2010, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN ANKARA

I AM CONCERNED ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF RENEWAL OF CONFLICT – BRITISH EXPERT

news.az
April 15 2010
Azerbaijan

Neil MacFarlane News.Az interviews Neil MacFarlane, head of the
Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford
University.

President Sargsyan said after meeting with prime-minister Erdogan
that Armenia will never accept compromises in "genocide" issue and
Karabakh problem. How real are the improvements between Armenia and
Turkey and Armenia and Azerbaijan in this regard?

For the moment, the improvement in relations between Armenia and
Turkey is incomplete. As I Understand it, Armenia is reluctant to
accept linkage between Karabakh and the process of normalization
with Turkey. The Turkish side finds it difficult to proceed with
ratification on this basis, for domestic political reasons and because
of its longstanding good relations with Azerbaijan.

As for genocide, I feel that there may be some movement on Turkey’s
part. There is discussion of the issue in Turkey. Some years ago it
was not possible to have those conversations. So there is evidence
of some change, but it is slow and nowhere near complete.

On Armenia-Azerbaijan, perhaps I am missing something, but I don’t
see evidence of improvement. I am concerned about the possibility of
a renewal of the conflict.

What kind of role can Obama play in normalization of relations between
Armenia from one side and Turkey and Azerbaijan from another?

He can try to persuade the different sides to keep the process going,
but I don’t think he has enough leverage to deliver a settlement of
these issues.

Do you expect that Obama will use the "genocide" word in his speech
on April 24-th to Armenian community?

That depends what you mean. He might refer to the congressional process
on this matter. But I don’t think you will hear him directly describe
the events of 1915 as genocide.

The Armenian side says that getting independence for Karabakh is the
only way to solve the conflict. Its clear that Azerbaijan will never
recognize it. Can Armenia expect support from international community
if Yerevan first will declare this "independence"?

I don’t think so.

There is an opinion that the Karabakh problem harms Armenia more than
Azerbaijan and it would be easier to solve the Karabakh conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia (which is in economical crisis) if
there were no interruption from Armenia diaspora, which don’t accept
any compromises. How would you comment on this point of view?

In the abstract that may be true, but the Armenian diaspora (or
parts of it) have strong views on this matter and I don’t think it is
possible to separate them from the political process in Armenia itself.