Author: Chaltikian Arsine

SWEDISH FM APOLOGIZES TO TURKEY IN ARMENIAN RESOLUTION ROW

AzerTac
March 29 2010
Azerbaijan

BAKU, March 29. (AzerTAc). Sweden`s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has
apologized to Ankara for the Swedish parliament’s passing a resolution
recognizing the so-called Armenian genocide.

"The Swedish government expresses regret over the passage of the
genocide resolution by the parliament, and we apologize to the Turkish
government for this," said Bildt.

Turkey`s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled a planned visit
to Sweden this month, and the government recalled its ambassador
from Stockholm.

The Swedish FM said: "If the genocide resolution is put on vote in
our parliament in 2011 the picture will differ dramatically from what
we have in 2010."

"The issue is already over, and we have to look forward. We have to
consider what we can do to have this decision changed," added Bildt.

Meanwhile, Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey`s recalled ambassador
would return to his work next week.

CLINTON, DAVUTOGLU DISCUSS THE ARMENIA GENCOIDE RESOLUTION

armradio.am
29.03.2010 11:29

Turksih Foreign Minsietr Ahmet Davutoglu and US Secertary of State
Hilary Clinton had a phone conversation on Sunday.

During the conversation, which lasted 40 minutes, the foreign-policy
chiefs of the two countries discussed the Armenian Genocide Resolution
adopted by the House Foreign Relations Committee and the process of
normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations.

Ahmet Davutoglu expressed hope that in his April 24th address U.S.
President Barack Obama would take into account the concerns of Turkey
on this issue.

According to him, the adoption of decisions by third countries, judging
history, affects the process of normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations.

"The process, which will positively impact not only the relations
between Turkey and Armenia, but also the situation in the Caucasus,
should not fall victim to domestic political scores," said Ahmet
Davutoglu.

The latest developments in the Middle East, as well as the situation
in Iraq and Iran were also on the agenda of the two officials’
conversation, officials said.

Today, Azerbaijan
March 27 2010

Azerbaijani deputy FM urges Armenian President to be careful while
making statements

27 March 2010 [12:50] – Today.Az

"The Armenia President should be careful while making statements on
Nagorno-Karabakh issue, because Azerbaijan has repeatedly voiced its
proposals,’ Azerbaijani Deputy FM and Personal Representative of the
Azerbaijani President on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Araz Azimov said.

According to deputy FM, now it is up to Armenia to express its
position on the updated version of the Madrid principles.

"The Armenian President should seriously consider these opportunities
if he worries about people who want to live in peace and long-lasting
cooperation with Azerbaijanis. Time is running out. In my opinion, the
Armenian side is using inappropriate methods to gain time, but I do
not think it will succeed.’

`On the one hand, Armenia should abide by international law and on the
other, benefit from and appreciate Azerbaijan’s striving to peace and
compromise in the full sense of the word. If it does not appreciate,
Azerbaijan will restore its territorial integrity, of course, ensuring
safety of its citizens of Armenian nationality. This is a very serious
matter. No one should be make senseless statements in this regard,"
Azimov added.

Earlier at a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of
Syria, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated that Armenia is not
ready to make unilateral concessions in the Karabakh issue and is
waiting for proposals from Azerbaijan.

/ANS PRESS/

URL:

`Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews,’ Says President
of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sarkisian

By Asbarez Staff on Mar 24th, 2010

YEREVAN-`Auschwitz is the Der Zor of the Jews,’
said President Serzh Sarkisian in a speech delivered Wednesday at the
historic mass grave-site of Armenian Genocide victims, adding that the
details of the atrocities that took place at Der Zor were well known
even to those `who publicly deny the veracity of the [Armenian]
Genocide.’

Sarkisian also made an apparent reference to recent comments by, among
others, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that a so-called
`historic commission,’ as cited in the Armenia-Turkey
protocols, will be tasked to address the Genocide issue. Sarkisian
provided perspective by saying that `It is inappropriate to cite
some commission of historians, since the Armenia-Turkey protocols task
the creation of a mere governmental sub-commission on historic matters.
I assume everyone understands what it means and what the differences
are.’

He then blasted the use of the Armenian-Turkey normalization process as
a justification for not recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian president went on to urge all those who are discussing the
Armenian Genocide and its recognition to `remember this desert,
remember the ruined fate of millions and this ancient people deprived of
their homeland.’

`What has brought me here is the greatest pain of my
nation-the first genocide of the 20th Century and the greatest
disgrace of the civilized world. The stigma of that shame, even in the
21st century, stains those who have turned the denial of obvious facts
into their policy, have turned into a bargaining chip and into a norm of
their behavior and lifestyle,’ said Sarkisian.

Armenians in Der Zor, Sarkisian said, were doomed to lose their life
`in accordance with the state orchestrated and meticulously
developed plan of extermination.’

`The most horrifying acts of the tragedy took place in the
desert of Der Zor. It is neither possible to describe the specifics of
the tragedy in a language known to humankind, nor will I attempt it,
since those details are well-known even to those who publicly deny the
veracity of the Genocide,’ said Sarkisian.

`Quite often historians and journalists correctly compare De Zor
with Auschwitz saying that `Der Zor is the Auschwitz of the
Armenians.’ I think the chronology of events forces us to
formulate the facts in a different manner: `Auschwitz is the
Deir ez Zor of the Jews.’ Merely a generation later humanity
witnessed the De Zor of the Jews,’ said Sarkisian.
`Today, as the President of the Republic of Armenia, the
homeland of all Armenians, I am here to ask: `Where and when
will our Nuremberg [trials] be held?’

Despite the Genocide and all that has happened, Sarkisian said Armenian
stands ready to normalize relations with the republic of Turkey.
`We are ready to have open borders and economic relations; we
are ready to take steps toward building confidence between the people of
Armenia and Turkey; we are ready to bring closer the two societies by
breaking stereotypes and myths that have nothing to do with reality and
have developed throughout decades in the absence of any meaningful
relations,’ he said.

`We do this sincerely since we believe that neighboring people
have no alternative but to coexist and develop, and, at least as a
start, through the implementation of what has been proposed and is still
on the table,’ the Armenian leader added. `The signing
of the Armenian-Turkish protocols presented us with an historic
opportunity that should have its logical conclusion.’

`However, we do not accept the manner in which the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue is being used as reasoning to refrain from
recognizing the Armenian Genocide. It is inappropriate to cite some
commission of historians, since the Armenia-Turkey protocols task the
creation of a mere governmental sub-commission on historic matters. I
assume everyone understands what it means and what the differences
are,’ he said.

FILM OF SUREN BABAYAN TO BE DEMONSTRATED AT FESTIVALS IN SINGAPORE AND KARLOVY VARY

ArmInfo
2010-03-25 16:18:00

ArmInfo. Suren Babayan’s "Don’t Look into the Mirror" film will be
demonstrated at festivals in Singapore Apr 15-24 and Karlovy Vary (East
of the West, June 2-10), reports the National Cinema Center of Armenia.

The film was first shown in Yerevan Oct 2 2009. Last year it was
demonstrated at XIII National Cinematography Forum of the CIS and
Baltic states.

The movie stars Jean-Pierre Nshanian, who is known for his work with
Nicolas Cage in Lord of War.

Critics say that surrealistic "Don’t Look into the Mirror" is one
of the best works of Nashanian. The movie is based on a story by
Perch Zeituntsian.

MOSQUE FOUNDATION IN TURKEY APPLIES FOR ARMENIAN CHURCH RENOVATION

armradio.am
25.03.2010 12:07

A foundation for the construction and renovation of mosques has
applied to the Turkish Culture Ministry to restore the Armenian
Tashoron Church in the neighborhood that is known as the birthplace
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

According to Latif Yıldırım, head of the Tepebası Mosque
Construction and Preservation Society, the decision to undertake
the renovation was made in 2009. The foundation also asked for the
opinions of non-governmental organizations and of the non-Muslim
public in the CavuÅ~_oglu neighborhood of Malatya, he said, the
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

In 2010, the project further improved. Pointing out that they set off
with the belief that there should be tolerance and dialogue between
religions, Yıldırım said there were many mosques in Europe.

"The TaÅ~_horon Church was built in the Ottoman era. This is proof
that our culture is based on tolerance and freedom of faith," said
Yıldırım. "Those were the times that people used to live together
and could do their religious exercises freely. We applied for the
project via the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. There
seems to be nothing to hinder us now. The church will be re-opened
first under the supervision of the Sivas Protection Committee and
then the renovation costs will be determined. Then we will start
the operations. The renovation will also be financially supported by
Malatya Municipality."

ARMENIAN CHURCH IN SLAIN JOURNALIST’S HOMETOWN TO BE RESTORED

Today’s Zaman
March 24 2010
Turkey

An old Armenian church, located in the neighborhood where slain
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was born, will be restored.

A mosque foundation carrying out activities in Carmuzu-Kaynarca
district of the eastern province of Malatya has recently applied to
the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism for the restoration of the
"Armenian Tashoron Church" constructed in the province’s CavuÅ~_oglu
neighborhood nearly 300 years ago.

CavuÅ~_oglu neigborhood is also the birthplace of journalist Hrant
Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly
Agos, who was shot dead outside his newspaper’s offices in Ä°stanbul
in 2007.

During a visit to his hometown in 2002, Dink had also expressed his
desire for the restoration of the church.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on the project, the mosque
foundation’s president Latif Yıldırım said Tuesday that Tashoron
Church was constructed in the 18th century, during the reign of the
Ottoman Empire.

Yıldırım said his foundation, together with several NGOs and the
non-Muslim population living in Malatya, had been displaying efforts
for the restoration of the old building since the beginning of 2009.

Expressing the importance of freedom of faith, Yıldırım said
religions should act with tolerance towards each other and seek
for dialogue.

"The historical Armenian church in CavuÅ~_oglu neighborhood is about to
collapse. It was constructed during the Ottoman period and this shows
us how a tolerant and libertarian culture we are coming from. People
lived all together and practised their religious beliefs freely at
those times. This happens and should happen today as well," he said.

Yıldırım also said the restoration process of the historical temple
would be carried out with the support of Malatya municipality.

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN MENTIONS POSSIBLE RETURN OF KARABAKH TERRITORIES; OR DID HE?

2010/03/23 | 16:11

politics

If one is to believe Hurriyet Daily News, the RoA President Serzh
Sargsyan has publicly stated, probably for the first time, about
the possible return of territories in Karabakh once the people are
granted the right to self-determination.

Today’s Hurriyet reports that President Sargsyan, commenting
on the long-standing territorial dispute with Azerbaijan, said,
"When the people of Nagorno-Karabakh receive a real opportunity
to implement its right to self-determination and when practical
mechanisms of security and development are created, the return of
these territories to Azerbaijan may be viewed as a concession from
the Armenian side, provided, of course, that the corridor linking
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh is kept."

President Sargsyan, who is in Syria until Wednesday, also talked about
the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and that Official
Yerevan supported "peaceful solutions and dialogue to resolve the
dispute… without questioning and forgetting its history."

In an interview with Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper, Sargsyan said the
"genocide" resolution in the House Foreign Affair Committee is an
"internal affair of the United States, which we do not interfere with."

"We did not make the recognition of the Armenian genocide a
precondition for the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations,
since we stand for the improvement of relations with Turkey without
any preconditions," Armenian Public Radio quoted Sargsyan.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered his country’s services in
helping establish normal relations between Armenia and Turkey while
hosting his Armenian counterpart Monday.

"Syria is ready to play a role… for the establishment of
Turkish-Armenian relations that can ensure normal stability and
security in the region," Bashar al-Assad told a joint news conference
Monday with President Sargsyan.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: HERE, IN DEIR EZ ZOR, WE FIRMLY AND LOUDLY SAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT WE ARE, SHALL EXIST AND WILL FLOURISH

ArmInfo
2010-03-24 16:11:00

ArmInfo. "I am here today since I could not but be here. It is the
greatest grief of my nation that has brought me here, the grief of
the first genocide of the 20th century and the greatest disgrace of
the civilized humanity. Up to this moment, in the 21st century, the
stigma of that disgrace still remains on the foreheads of all those
who have turned the denial of the evident facts into their policy,
turned it into their bargaining chip and into their lifestyle and
norm of behavior",- said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during
his meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Aleppo,
Syria, in Deir ez Zor.

"In the desert of Deir ez Zor the most monstrous acts of the
tragedy had taken place, and it is neither possible to articulate
the particulars of that tragedy in the language of human beings,
nor am I going do that since these particulars are well-known even
to those who publicly deny the veracity of the Genocide. Bereft of
home and property, bereft of children and parents, bereft of health
and the last hope, and finally bereft of the most important – their
homeland, these people were doomed to lose the last thing they had –
their life in accordance with the state orchestrated and meticulously
developed plan of extermination.

Quite often historians and journalists soundly compare Deir ez Zor
with Auschwitz saying that "Deir ez Zor is the Auschwitz of the
Armenians". I think that the chronology forces us to formulate the
facts in a reverse way: "Auschwitz is the Deir ez Zor of the Jews".

Only a generation later the humanity witnessed the Deir ez Zor of
the Jews. Today, as the President of the Republic of Armenia, the
homeland of all Armenians, I am here to ask: "Where and when will be
held our Nuremberg?"

I’m here to commemorate and to pray for the vast majority of my
slaughtered nation that had suffered both physical and cultural
extermination. I will elaborate neither on the quality, nor on the
quantity of the loss. Let me recall a single fact: as a result of
the Genocide the greatest share of the dialects of one of the most
ancient Indo-European languages – the Armenian – had been irreversibly
eradicated along with its speakers.

In spite of all that happened, we say that we are ready to establish
normal diplomatic relations with the modern Turkey, we are ready to
have open borders and economic relations, we are ready to make efforts
towards building confidence between the peoples of Armenia and Turkey,
we are ready to bring closer the two societies by breaking stereotypes
and myths that have nothing to do with the reality and developed in
decades of dearth of any sensible contacts. We do this sincerely since
we believe that there is no alternative to the living and development
between the neighbors through implementation of what is proposed
and still at the table, at least to start it up. The signing of the
Armenian-Turkish protocols presented us with an historic opportunity
that should have a logical destine.

We, however, do not accept the style of references to the
Armenian-Turkish dialogue in attempts to avoid the recognition of
the Genocide. I do not think it helps the process. Moreover, it is
irrelevant to cite some Commission of Historians, since the Armenian-
Turkish protocols provide for merely a governmental sub-commission on
historic dimension. I assume everyone understands what it means and
what the difference is. I ask all those who will have an occasion to
elaborate or express themselves on the topic of the recognition of
he Armenian Genocide: remember of this dessert, millions of ruined
human fortunes and this ancient people deprived of their motherland
and with pain in their hearts, before you make up your minds.

In 1915 the greatest Armenian poets of the 20th century – 35 years old
Daniel Varuzhan and 37 years old Atom Yarjanian (Siamanto) had also
been slaughtered. Before being tortured to death, they were undressed,
because they wore European clothes. In those times and places European
clothes were quite expensive. The executioners dressed up into the
European clothes – stolen from the Armenian geniuses encompassing
millennia old civilization, stolen from ordinary Armenians.

I would not interpret symbols signified in these images but I am
unequivocally convinced: while preaching European apparel, manners
or values no one has a right to cast these images in oblivion.

I am here to remind of the well-known words: "It is impossible to kill
a nation that does not want to die". We mean to live and to grow. It
is no more possible to intimidate or blackmail us since we have seen
the most horrible. We shall continue to live and create with double
vigor for us and for our innocent victims. We look forward since we
have a lot to say and to share with each other, a lot to say and to
share with the world: the brightness and glow that Daniel Varuzhan
and Atom Yarjanian had no chance to share. And here, in Deir ez Zor,
we firmly and loudly say over and over again that we are, shall exist
and will flourish",- said Serzh Sargsyan.

DAVID SHAHNAZARYAN: TURKEY NEEDED THE PROCESS, NOT THE RESULT
Lusine Vasilyan

"Radiolur"
24.03.2010 14:26

Turkey needed the process, not the result, representative of the
Armenian National Congress David Shahnazaryan told a press conference
today. The current stage of the Armenian-Turkish process resembles a
situation, where it is impossible to win, but equally impossible to
withdraw from the game, he said.

David Shahnzaryan does not share the opinion that the Turkish Prime
Minister’s recent remarks about the deportation of 100 000 Armenians
were emotional or unbalanced.

"It has become obvious for Turkey that Armenia is going to ratify the
protocols first. This would be a serious blow to Turkey in the current
situation. It’s clear to me that Erdogan’s statement pursued one aim:
to prevent the Armenian Parliament from ratifying the protocols first,"
David Shahnzaryan said.