ITALY’S ROMA INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING JOAQUIN BOGHOSSIAN
Tert.am
14:41 ~U 17.03.10
Italy’s AS Roma is interested in Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boy’s
Uruguayan striker of Armenian origin Joaquín Boghossian, reports
Italian paper Corrier dello Sport.
According to the Italian daily, AS Roma is prepared to acquire
Boghossian for 4 million EUR.
Earlier, Boghossian was scouted by Italy’s Sampdoria, Russia’s
Lokomotiv, as well as England’s Liverpool and Aston Villa.
KASBARIAN: THE ARMENIAN, ASSYRIAN, AND GREEK GENOCIDES: AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
By: Lucine Kasbarian
7/kasbarian-the-armenian-assyrian-and-greek-genoci des-an-inconvenient-truth/
Wed, Mar 17 2010
Recent articles in the mainstream media would have us believe that
governments around the world somehow question the factuality of the
1915 Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocides committed by Turkey.
These articles would also have us believe that the Turkish government’s
latest temper tantrums over these genocides are justified. Turkey,
of course, just recalled its ambassadors to protest the passage of
resolutions by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs
Committee and the Swedish Parliament that acknowledged Turkish
culpability for these genocides.
Despite what today’s mainstream media are declaring, the evidence
proving the 1915 genocides is overwhelming. And formal resolutions
affirming these unpunished crimes against humanity made appearances
around the world long before 2010. Regardless of what pro-Turkish
apologists would have us believe, the issue has never been about
whether the Turkish regime carried out genocide. Rather, it has always
been about when Turkey would be punished and deliver reparations and
restitution to the rightful, indigenous inhabitants.
Powerful media elites would have us believe that the mainstream media
universe has been devoid of criticism for Turkey’s unpunished crimes
because such voices are either non-existent, marginal, irrelevant,
fabricated, or some combination thereof.
What the media elites fail to tell us is that when these critical
voices-from victim ethnic groups or elsewhere-come forward to submit
letters, opinion pieces, or quotes, they are usually denied access.
Media elites also neglect to tell us that opinions that do not reflect
the official narrative spun by Turkey-not to mention Israel and the
U.S.-largely go unpublished. Authoritative voices that would discredit
the mainstream media’s official narrative of the genocide issue are
removed from the elite’s "golden rolodex"-the name given to describe
the small group of establishment-approved "experts" who are most
frequently quoted in news stories or asked to appear on television.
The absence of dissent in the mainstream media and in the halls
of power does not mean that the victims of the genocides and their
descendants are insignificant, apathetic, or deceitful. No, we are
alive, awake, and infuriated.
The media are also telling us that we should sympathize with Turkey
because it feels "humiliated" by accusations of genocide. Turkey
uses this word to describe its anger that its national honor has
somehow been injured by such accusations. Do Turkish, Israeli, and
American officials know what "humiliation" means to the survivors
and descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek Genocides who
experienced debasement and degradation during the genocidal ordeals,
and are forced to endure denials and demeaning treatment right up to
the present day?
And how did humiliation of the victims occur? By order of the Young
Turk regime, unarmed civilian subjects-Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek
men, women, and children-were raped in broad daylight, in front of
their families and neighbors. The tortures and violations were beyond
one’s wildest imagination. Innocents were skinned and burned alive.
Their tongues and fingernails were torn out. Horseshoes were nailed
to their feet. They were stripped naked and sent on death marches
into the desert. Women’s breasts were cut off and their pregnant
bellies bayoneted. Fetuses were thrown up into the air and impaled
on swords and bayonets for sport. Men were tied to tree limbs that
were bent towards one another; when the tree’s limbs were released,
the men’s bodies were torn in half. Women were tied to horses and
dragged to their deaths.
Those Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks who were not exterminated,
enslaved in harems, or kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam
were driven from their indigenous lands. Those who survived the death
marches spent the rest of their lives in exile, uprooted from their
culture and civilization, grieving for their slaughtered families
and yearning for their ancestral homeland.
Media elites are giving voice to embroidered Turkish "humiliation"
and not to the real humiliation of the victims, survivors, and heirs
who live with constant anguish in the face of torture, dispossession,
contempt, and indifference. Media elites are defending Turkey when
it is the martyrs and their heirs who deserve mercy and compassion.
In spite of Turkey’s efforts to humiliate the victims at the time of
the genocides-and to prolong this humiliation up to the present day
with cultural theft, trivialization, and scape-goating-the dignity
of the victims and their descendants has, remarkably, remained intact.
Turkey’s genocidal crimes have gone unpunished. While continually
profiting from the homes, farms, lands, properties, institutions,
and possessions confiscated in 1915, Turkey even accuses the victims
and survivors of the crimes that it itself committed. And media
elites portray ongoing survivor grievances as nuisances that impede
"progress."
It is the genocide deniers-the rulers and lobbies of the U.S., Turkey,
Israel, and Azerbaijan-who are the ones impeding progress. Their
denial, duplicity, and audacity do not mean that the genocides’
victims and their heirs have been defeated. Denying the truth does
not invalidate it. Fictional Turkish "reconciliation" initiatives
foisted upon Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks will never take the
place of genuine atonement and restitution, which are necessary for
true progress to be made.
To these deniers and obstructionists we say: "Your tactics are
transparent. The perpetrators, beneficiaries, and enablers of the
ongoing genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek peoples
will be brought to justice. You can hide from the truth, but you
can’t hide the truth. We will persist, and the truth will prevail."
NALBANDIAN MEETS WITH MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS
Aysor
March 17 2010
Armenia
Armenia’s Foreign Minister, who was on a visit to France, met with
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, Bernard Fassier
of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and with Personal
Representative of the Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk,
a spokesperson for Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Parties discussed last developments in the process of settlement to
the Karabakh conflict and co-chairs’ visit to the region.
Edward Nalbandian said of lasting attempts by the Azerbaijani side to
put a crimp into the process, falsify meanings and make the process
run into difficulties. Referring to Nagorno-Karabakh as a part of
negotiations, Nalbandian said that the solution to the conflict is
impossible without Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation.
Co-Chairs said of the last meeting with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister,
held in Paris on March 5, and talked about some regional items.
SWEDISH PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZES ARMENIA GENOCIDE AGAINST GOVERNMENT WISHES
Before It’s News
arliament_Recognizes_Armenia_Genocide_Against_Gove rnment_Wishes.html
March 17 2010
GOTHENBURG, Sweden–The Swedish Parliament has decided to acknowledge
the 1915 massacre in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, but it happened
against the wishes of both the government and the leader of the
biggest opposition party, as representatives on both sides voted
against party lines.
The issue has now grown into both a diplomatic problem between Turkey
and Sweden as well as a domestic debate about who actually controls
foreign policy in Sweden. The resolution passed by just one vote.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was quick to call the decision
"deeply regrettable" on his blog. He is worried that anti-reformists
within Turkey would use this in their attempts to make normalizing
relations between Turkey and Armenia more difficult.
Turkey reacted by swiftly withdrawing their ambassador from Sweden
for consultations and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has canceled his
planned visit to Sweden. Sweden normally has very good relations with
Turkey, but this decision has angered both the Turkish government
and many Turks.
One of the issues that Sweden focused on during their chairmanship of
the European Union last year was the question of Turkey’s application
for membership into the union. Turkish membership is controversial,
and one of the reasons is that their human rights record is not seen
as living up to European standards. More than 20 countries have
recognized what happened in 1915 as genocide, and Turkey is under
certain pressure to deal with this aspect of its past, as a way to
demonstrate that it respects the rights of its minorities.
The massacre in 1915 was a result of Muslim Turkish rulers of the
Ottoman Empire siding with the Germans during World War I, while some
of the repressed minorities, mainly Christian, sided with Russia. An
unknown number of Armenians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Syrians, and Assyrians,
some claim as many as 1.5 million, were deported or killed as modern
Turkey rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey does not recognize the events as genocide. It claims that
some 400,000 people died, mostly in battles. It is illegal to call
the events genocide in Turkey. There is a lot of nationalist pride
in Turkey and people don’t want the birth of their nation to be
associated with genocide.
Some Swedish commentators feel that the question of whether it was
genocide or not (the term genocide and conventions regarding it
did not appear until the 1940’s) should be appraised by historians
and not politicians. Others argue that this recognition is welcome
and long overdue and that the stance of the Swedish government and
the leadership of the biggest minority party, the Social Democrats,
are shameful. The debate has become quite heated on blogs.
Meanwhile, some of the focus in Swedish media has also shifted to the
question of how Parliament came to vote against the government line,
which is very unusual in Sweden, and to question the stability of
Swedish foreign policy and who is really in charge of it.
Last week, Turkey also pulled its ambassador from the United States
after the House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly passed a nonbinding
resolution, 23 votes to 22, naming the 1915 killings as genocide.
IRAN READY TO MEDIATE BETWEEN ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN
News.am
March 16 2010
Armenia
Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Baqer Bahrami said Iran is
ready to act as mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan in resolving
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mehr News Agency reported.
"Iran has announced its readiness to help the crisis in this region,"
the Ambassador told the Mehr News Agency.
Commenting on plans to abolish visa requirements for the citizens of
Iran and Azerbaijan, the Ambassador pointed out that Azerbaijan is
preparing the grounds for abolishing visa requirement for Iranians.
ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT TO VISIT GERMANY
Aysor
March 16 2010
Armenia
Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan will pay an official visit to
Germany, a spokesperson for Presidential Administration said.
The visit’s details were discussed between Armenia’s Foreign Minister,
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor Guido
Westerwelle, who met Monday. Among discussed by parties items were
regional and international processes and Armenia-Germany relations.
It’s worth mentioning that Foreign Minister Nalbandian also met with
Christoph Heusgen, Chancellor’s chief foreign policy adviser.
SUPER-ACTIVENESS AND DANGERS IN THE KARABAKH PROCESS
Anna Nazaryan
"Radiolur"
16.03.2010 18:43
Super-activeness is observed in the settlement of the Karabakh issue,
which speaks of certain possible developments, Head of Analytical
Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan
told a press conference today.
The political scientist is concerned about the fact that the updated
Madrid document ignores the issue of holding a referendum and
prioritizes the issues of the interim status of Nagorno Karabakh and
deployment of peacekeepers.
In the Madrid Principles the main emphasis was placed on the
referendum, and this satisfied Armenia, while the updated principles
are acceptable to Azerbaijan, that’s why official Baku declares those
are good.
In the current situation the political scientists suggests toughening
the position and demanding to sign a framework agreement where the
Madrid principles will be included.
Ex-Foreign Minister of Nagorno Karabakh Arman Melikyan suggests
recognizing the independence of Nagorno Karabakh on its current
territory including Sahumyan, Getashen and Martakert. He says it’s
necessary to change the stance on the Karabakh issue. Otherwise,
"the Armenian authorities will have no option other than surrendering
the territories."
As regards the Armenian-Turkish relations, Stepan Grigoryan and Arman
Melikyan do not rule out that US President Barack Obama may use the
word ‘genocide,’ but this will not improve Armenia’s situation.
Turkey will ally with Russia, and their alliance is dangerous to our
country. In this case the Karabakh issue will be solved within hours
not to the advantage of Armenia, the political scientists say.
MINISTER NALBANDIAN VISITS BERLIN AND PARIS
armradio.am
15.03.2010 13:09
The Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, has left for
Berlin for a one-day official visit, Press and Information Department
of the ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
On March 16 Edward Nalbandian will leave Berlin for Paris, where he
is scheduled to meet the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
SILVA HAROUTOUNIAN EST LIBRE
par Jean Eckian
armenews
Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine
mardi16 mars 2010
Iran
Silva Haroutounian, employee d’une ONG americaine, en mission en Iran,
et qui avait ete emprisonnee plus de 20 mois, a ete liberee.
Dans une declaration du 10 Mars, son employeur, l’US – International
Research and Exchange Board (IREX)-1-, a remercie " le gouvernement
de l’Armenie pour son engagement dans l’obtention de la liberation
de Silva. Les details n’ont pas ete rendus publics.
Fin 2007, elle avait demenage d’Iran en Armenie afin d’occuper un
poste administratif au bureau d’Erevan de l’International Research &
Exchanges Board (IREX).IREX pilote des programmes d’echanges entre
professionnels depuis plus de 40 ans dans plus de 50 pays.
Silva etait engagee comme employee administrative sur un programme
d’echange Iran/Etats-Unis pour des professionnels de la sante, dont
la vocation est d’ameliorer l’education a la sante maternelle et
infantile dans les deux pays.
Le 26 juin 2008, lors d’un deplacement professionnel en Iran, les
autorites iraniennes ont brusquement arrete Silva et l’ont incarcere
a la prison d’Evin, reputee pour son quartier reserve aux prisonniers
politiques.
Le 1er Juin 2009, IREX a appele les autorites iraniennes a liberer leur
employee d’origine armenienne emprisonnee en Iran depuis près d’un an,
comme elles l’avaient fait au mois de Mai 2009 pour la journaliste
americano-iranienne Roxana Saberi.
L’arrestation n’est devenue publique qu’en Fevrier 2009, lorsque Silva
Haroutounian a ete condamnee a trois ans de prison sur accusations
d’activites dirigees contre le gouvernement iranien. C’est sous la
contrainte qu’on l’aurait force a s’impliquer.
Sans aucun engagement politique, Silva a pourtant ete accusee
d’encourager une " revolution douce " ou de " velours " contre la
Republique Islamique d’Iran, et a ete reconnue coupable et condamnee en
janvier 2009 a trois ans de prison. Elle avait ete deboutee en appel.
Un an plus tard, l’Agence de relations publiques Edelman avait
organise une conference de presse le 24 juin 2009 au Centre d’Affaires
Paris-Trocadero, avec le soutien de Reporters Sans Frontières.
De nombreux correspondants de presse etrangers etaient presents pour
ecouter l’ex prisonnière des mollahs, la journaliste irano-americaine
Roxana Saberi, venue soutenir Silva Haroutounian et exiger sa
liberation.
Meme si Silva Haroutounian n’a pas la citoyennete americaine, ses
proches aux Etats-Unis comme l’ONG americaine qui l’employait ont
presse le Departement d’Etat a prendre publiquement position pour sa
liberation, comme il l’avait fait pour la journaliste irano-americaine
Roxana Saberi. Après la liberation de cette dernière, le Departement
d’Etat americain a appele les autorites iraniennes a liberer Silva
Haroutounian.
Jean Eckian + photos
(1) IREX : organisation non gouvernementale americaine qui offre des
programmes dans l’amelioration qualitative de l’education, favorise
le developpement de la societe civile et aide a renforcer la presse
independante. Elle n’a jamais ete impliquee ou accusee de man~uvres
politiques.
EXPERT: ARMENIA SHOULD CHART NEW COURSE
ARKA
MArch 15, 2010
YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Armenia is in need of a new economic policy,
Vazgen Safaryan, the chairman of Association of Domestic Manufacturers
and the head of Public Council’s financial, economic and budget
commission, said Monday in Novosti International Press Center.
"U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt adopted a new policy in 1933, after
the crisis, and time has come to us to chart a new course," he said.
Safaryan thinks that export area needs substantial reformation.
He thinks Armenian government pays insufficient attention to domestic
products, since after declaring its independence the country started
heading the road of free market economy, which is based on ten
recommendations of. Washington Consensus
One of these recommendations warns against spurring and regulating
industry.
"None of our prime ministers succeeding each other has made any
correction to industrial policy," Safaryan said.
Washington Consensus is a kind of the microeconomic policy recommended
by some economists to those countries facing financial and economic
crises.
Safaryan also said that things have already started changing.
He pointed out that Armenian government approved an industry recovery
concept in January.
"This gives us ground for hope that progress is possible in this area."
In its concept, the government singled out creation of favorable
environment as one of its top-priority objectives.
This environment will enable Armenia to develop into industry-oriented
country. Under the concept, the country will increasingly be building
up the share of industry in its GDP from year to year.
The government also put special emphasis on development of
export-oriented industry. Speaking about the new economic policy,
the expert said that it should be focused on industry.
He added that the government should also include tax administration
improvement, shady dealing reduction and the problem of foreign debt
ratio to GDP to its industry policy strategy "to transform Armenia
from a soviet-era consumer country into a manufacturer country".