Author: Chmshkian Vicken

AKI, Italy
April 26 2005

TURKEY-US: AIR BASE USE EXTENDED, WARPLANE DEAL CLINCHED, AMID
ARMENIAN COMPLAINTS

Ankara, 26 April (AKI) – Turkey on Tuesday extended permission for
the United States to use a military airbase in Turkish terrirtory – a
decision that follows President George W. Bush’s recent praise for
Ankara’s proposal for a joint probe with Armenia into the 1915-23
massacre of Armenians, but his reluctance to label the massacre a
genocide carried out by Turks.
Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul announced that US war planes
would be allowed to continue operating from Incirlik Airfield Base,
which the Americans have used for the past 50 years.
The decision was taken by Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s cabinet, he
said. On Tuesday Ankara signed a 1.1 billion dollar deal with the US
for the Americans to modernise US-made 117 F-16 Turkish warplanes.

On Sunday, US President George W. Bush commemorated the deaths of an
estimated 1.5 million Armenians under Turkish Ottoman rule, praising
a call by Erdogan for a joint Turkish-Armenian commission to
investigate the allegations by Armenians, and many independent
historians, that the deaths were effectively genocide.

However Bush, in his statement on April 24, the 90th anniversary of
the carnage, did not mention the word “genocide” – a fact which has
pleased Ankara, but angered Armenian groups who link the US
president’ reluctance to do so to Washington’s interest in
maintaining use of the airbase.

Ankara said it viewed Bush’s statement on Sunday “positively”.
According to reports in the Turkish media, Ankara last week delayed a
decision on the use of Incirlik – also used for supply missions to US
forces in Iraq and Afghanistan – until after the commemoration, to
pressure Bush into not branding the massacre as a genocide.

Turkey, which denies a genocide occurred, says Armenians died but in
much smaller numbers than genocide theorists claim from disease and
other hardships, while being relocated from an areas where they had
been offering military support to Russia, an enemy of Ottoman Turkey
during World War II.

The Armenian Assembly, a US-based group, said it was “extremely
dissatisfied with the President’s [Bush] characterisation of the
attempted annihilation of our people by Ottoman Turkey,” Seembly
executive director, Bryan Ardouny, said on Tuesday.

Commenting on Bush’s use of the expression “great calamity” to
describe the Armenian deaths, Ardouny said this did not go far
enough, and was “a missed opportunity by the President to speak the
truth plainly, to once and for all avoid using evasive terminology
which only serves to support Turkey’s state-sponsored denial
campaign.”

Earlier this month 210 members of the US Senate and the House of
Representatives from across party divides had urged Bush to properly
acknowledge the Armenian genocide in his statement of remembrance.

Soon after EU leaders agreed last December to open accession talks
with Turkey, the European Parliament urged Ankara to recognise the
1915-1923 killings of Armenians as genocide.

Many in Turkey say that recognising the genocide claims would
encourage Armenians, backed by the EU and the United States, to
achieve their “hidden” agenda – state compensation for the
“so-called” victims including handing over to Armenia land now part
of modern-day Turkey.

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MTV.com
April 26 2005

System Of A Down Make The Political Personal At Souls 2005
04.25.2005 7:51 PM EDT

Group marks Armenian genocide with first U.S. concert in a year.
System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian (file)
Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California – It was mesmerizing and hypnotizing even
if System of a Down’s first U.S. concert in a year didn’t feature
much from the band’s upcoming Mezmerize/Hypnotize.

At Sunday’s Souls 2005, the band’s annual benefit held on the day
Armenians recognize the Armenian genocide each year, System played
only three tracks from their new double album (see “System Of A Down
Shoot Fiery ‘B.Y.O.B.’ Clip, Find Inspiration In Fistfights”),
instead treating the sold-out Gibson Amphitheatre crowd to a flood of
familiar favorites.

The 25-song set, however, did kick off with new single “B.Y.O.B.”
(see “System Of A Down Want Your Bombs, Plan Third Souls Concert”),
which had the audience singing along to the disco chorus,
“Everybody’s going to the party/ Have a real good time,” while singer
Serj Tankian got his groove on.

After returning to more familiar territory with “Science,” the band
debuted “Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll” from Hypnotize, a roller coaster of a
tune that goes up and down a few times before ending in a crescendo
of screams from Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian.

“When I was a little boy, I talked to Superman and he told me to kill
rock and roll and f— all you sexy people,” Malakian said before
breaking into the opening guitar riff.

With his, ahem, interesting song introductions, nonstop animated
facial expressions, and occasional sprints or twirls across the
stage, the guitarist stole the crowd’s attention from the get-go and
never gave it back.

“We didn’t start this band to change the world,” he announced prior
to “Aerials.” “We didn’t start this band to change your mind. We
started this band to make you ask questions.”

Later in the show, following hits like “Chop Suey” and “Spiders,” the
band played the second and final Mezmerize tune, “Cigaro.” Judging by
how loudly fans sang along, it was apparently downloaded widely after
being leaked onto the Internet earlier this year (see “For System Of
A Down, Sometimes A ‘Cigaro’ Is Just A ‘Cigaro’ “).

As with last year’s Souls concert (see “System Of A Down Mark
Genocide By Playing, Not Preaching”), the group fittingly ended the
show with “P.L.U.C.K. (Politically Lying, Unholy, Cowardly Killers),”
which includes the verse “A whole race genocide/ Taken away all of
our pride/ Revolution, the only solution/ We’ve taken all your sh–/
Now it’s time for restitution.”

Before the show began, the band played a video about the Armenian
genocide in which the Ottoman Turks killed as many as 1.5 million
Armenians between 1895 and 1915 (see “System Of A Down Plan Benefit
For Genocide Awareness”).

“It’s a better thing for me inside, because we’re doing it for a
purpose. We’re not just playing a show, we’re trying to do something
special for us and our people,” bassist Shavo Odadjian said
backstage. “We say all the time that this isn’t just a political
issue for us, it’s personal. So there’s energy when we’re doing this,
because the people watching are feeling it too.”

Proceeds from Sunday’s show benefited several organizations,
including Amnesty International, Center for the Prevention of
Genocide, and Axis of Justice, Tankian’s political action group with
Tom Morello.

While Sunday’s show featured only three new tunes, the band said its
somewhat guerrilla (shows are announced less than a week in advance)
club tour will include more new material. “It’s gonna be tough to
decide the set, because there’s so many songs from our old list we
don’t want to let go,” Malakian said. “But we might have to.”

Only four of the tour’s 10 dates have so far been announced: Monday
(April 25) at the Fillmore in San Francisco, Wednesday at Ogden
Theatre in Denver, Friday at the Granada in Dallas, and Saturday at
the Music Hall in Austin. The band recently played three similar
scaled-down club shows in Europe.

“We played a 600-seater in France that was amazing,” Odadjian said.
“I got so excited when I saw the place. Just vibewise, with the
crowd, it was amazing.”

“These venues are too big,” said drummer John Dolmayan. “I’d like to
do 200- to 300-seaters all across the country.”

Souls 2005 set list:
“B.Y.O.B.”
“Science”
“Kill Rock ‘n’ Roll”
“Suggestions”
“Psycho”
“Chop Suey”
“Mr. Jack”
“Needles”
“Deer Dance”
“Aerials”
“Holy Mountains”
“Spiders”
“Streamline”
“Bounce”
“Atwa”
“Forest”
“Cigaro”
“Highway Song”
“War?”
“Prison Song”
“Roulette”
“Toxicity”
“Suite-Pee”
“Sugar”
“P.L.U.C.K.”

STARTING FROM APRIL 26, TRAFFIC ACROSS KIEV BRIDGE IN YEREVAN WILL BE
SUSPENDED

YEREVAN, APRIL 25. ARMINFO. Starting from April 26, the traffic across
the Kiev Bridge in Yerevan will be suspended. Head of the Department
for Construction and Communal Economy of Yerevan Municipality Ashot
Sargsyan has informed journalists today.

He has stated that capital repair of the bridge will start, and the
construction works started there yet in March. 380 million AMD are to
be allocated for restoration works. In his turn, Head of the Municipal
Transport Department Tigran Ghazaryan has noted that 26 alternative
route will operate. In particular, 5 route of microbuses will operate
through Tsitsernakaberd hill (No. 3,27, 28, 40a and 90) and one
bus. The remaining microbuses will operate via Davidashen
Bridge. Microbuses No. 18 and 64 will operate via the street Orbeli.
Besides, the routes of microbuses No. 58 and 66 will not reach Hrazdan
Bridge instead of their previous last station near Underground station
“Barekamutyun.” To note, Kiev Bridge was put into exploitation in 1950
and has not undergone any capital repair so far.

TWO CHILDREN FELL INTO HRAZDAN RIVER APRIL 24, SEARCH STILL CONTINUES

YEREVAN, APRIL 25. ARMINFO. Yesterday two boys fell into the Hrazdan
River. The press-service of the Armenian Governmental Emergency
Situations Department informs ARMINFO that on April 24 approximately
at 14:00 near the settlement Dashtavan, Ararat region, residents of
the village of Darakert Hayk Hovhannissyan (1995) and Garnik Grigoryan
(1994) fell into the river. Rescuers arrived in the place, and the
police and local residents were involved in the search as well. To
contribute to the search, from 16:00 to 21:45 the water poured into
river from Lake Yerevan was blocked. Today in the morning the search
of the missing children has been resumed.

Turkish Press
April 25 2005

Cicek: Based On Our Archives And Confidence In Our History And
Culture, We Can Say That No Genocide Took Place

ANKARA – Turkish Minister of Justice and Government Spokesman Cemil
Cicek has indicated that, after many years of leaving the issue of
so-called genocide to historians, it is now high time for Turkey to
start disproving all allegations in various countries.

Cicek remarked that for centuries the Armenians lived in an empire
(Ottoman) happily and in a rich atmosphere. ”Armenians began
uprising against the Ottoman government with the incitement,
encouragement and promises of some countries under the conditions of
the First World War and massacred especially Muslim Turks, leading to
mutual incidents.”

”April 24 is the end of incidents perpetrated by Armenians and what
happened did happen within the context of conditions of war. This
aspect is disregarded and Turkey is unjustly blamed for something
that it never did.”

Underlining that Turkey suffered from Armenian terrorism especially
after 1965, Cicek expressed sadness for Turkish diplomats killed by
Armenian terrorists.

Cicek noted that Armenians influenced the parliaments of the
countries in which they are powerful and succeeded in obtaining
parliament decisions in their favor in 15 countries.

Noting that Turkey has always considered the incidents of 1915 as an
historical topic and that should be made clear by historians, Cicek
said, ”if we evaluate the topic from a political perspective, this
would take us to a different point. Apparently, parliaments of
certain countries can make decisions based on the incidents of the
past and can cause a chaotic atmosphere. As Turks, we wished that,
instead of turning incidents of the past into a topic of hatred and
anger, they should be brought to daylight by the historians with an
approach looking at the future. Such a Turkish approach has been
undeniably disregarded by the parliaments of certain nations due to
domestic political gains and other reasons. That is why, Turkey has
given up thinking ‘let’s look at the future, not the past. Let’s not
cause younger generations raise with hatred and anger by digging into
pains of the past’. We must have a new approach to the subject.”

”Based on our archives and confidence in our history and culture, we
can say that no genocide took place. But altogether, we have to
disprove the lies of those who claim that a genocide has taken place.
We have to do it with the help of all of the government institutions
and NGOs across the globe. Turkey must follow a new policy, quite
different than its past approach which indicated that the issue of
the so-called Armenian genocide is a matter of historians. The old
policy that so-called Armenian genocide is a historical matter and
not political does not meet Turkey’s requirements. We have to pursue
a much different policy globally as of this moment,” indicated
Cicek.

Cicek mentioned that Turkey has opened all of its archives. ”Those
who want to closely study the archives are welcome in Turkey. We can
form joint commissions comprised of historical experts. We expect the
Armenians to also open all of their archives. Turkey is confident
about the results of such commissions.”

Cicek stressed that the issue of so-called Armenian genocide has been
thoroughly evaluated in the meeting of the Council of Ministers today
(Monday). ”We are looking at the issue of so-called Armenian
genocide from legal, political and historical perspectives,”
commented Cicek. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs will
coordinate all of our activities in disproving Armenian allegations,
told Cicek.

According to Cicek, many Turkish organizations, individuals,
non-governmental organizations work on disproving Armenian
allegations. We may establish a coordination center to make possible
the best battle against baseless Armenian allegations, said Cicek.

A1plus

| 15:03:06 | 25-04-2005 | Official |

ARMENIANS OF CANADA MEET THE PRESIDENT

Today Robert Kocharyan received several representatives of the Canadian
Chamber of Commons and the Armenian community in Canada.

Issues about enhancing Armenian-Canadian links have been discussed. The
sides have mentioned that in case the perspective of opening the diplomatic
representation of Canada in Armenia becomes reality the economic cooperation
will get better.

The representatives of the Armenian community claimed that the community is
ready to develop the cooperation with the mother land reaching a new level
of quality.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 24 2005

Armenians Marked `Genocide’ at Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi

Dozens of ethnic Armenians living in Georgia gathered on April 24
at the Turkish Embassy in Tbilisi to mark 90th anniversary of the
1915 events, what Yerevan views as genocide of about 1.5 million
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.

Participants of the rally demanded from the Turkish authorities to
recognize 1915 slaughter as genocide of Armenians. But Turkey insists
that the number of those killed is inflated and Armenians were
victims of World War I and not of genocide.

Armenian foreign minister, French delegation discuss recognition of genocide

Arminfo
23 Apr 05

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today met members of the
delegation of the French parliament who are visiting Yerevan to
participate in events dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide.

The delegation includes the president of the Union for French
Democracy, Francois Bayrou, the member of the party’s political
bureau, Alexis Govciyan, the member of parliament and former deputy
chairman of the National Assembly, Rudy Salles, and representatives of
France’s Armenian community, the press service of the state commission
for organizing events dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the
Armenian genocide has told our correspondent.

The Armenian foreign minister thanked France and its people for
participating in issues concerning Armenia. “France is one of the key
European countries and it is of special importance for Armenia to
establish closer relations with France,” the Armenian foreign minister
stressed.

Oskanyan also stressed the importance of France’s legislative
recognition of the Armenian genocide, which stimulated the process of
discussing the issue in the contexts of international and European
processes.

The sides exchanged views on regional and international issues. They
discussed in detail the current stage of settling the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict, as well as Armenian-Turkish relations and ways of
solving them.

The French delegation visited the Tsitsernakaberd memorial to the
victims of the Armenian genocide today, according to the report.

Zaman Online, Turkey
April 22 2005

MGK Prepares for ECHR Decision on Ocalan

Published: Friday 22, 2005
zaman.com

Turkish National Security Council (MGK) Secretary-General Ambassador
Yigit Alpogan has spoken in advance of the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR) decision about the re-trial of separatist terror
organization leader Abdullah Ocalan, saying, “We are working on
possible alternatives”.

When asked about the possibility of a retrial if ordered by the ECHR,
Alpogan replied that ECHR has not taken its decision yet. Pointing to
the complexity of the issue, Alpogan said, “There is no decision yet.
When there is one, I am sure that an attitude will be determined and
what is required will be done.”

When asked about Turkey’s image abroad as a moderate Islamic country,
the Secretary answered: “We do not accept that this is a moderate
Islamic country and refute this view whenever we hear it.” As
for the alleged Armenian genocide issue, Alpogan said “these are
baseless allegations” noting there is no evidence that the Ottomans
committed the Armenian genocide. “They will regret their decision,”
said Alpogan of the Polish Parliament’s decision to recognize of the
alleged genocide.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Armenian Assembly of America
50 North La Cienega Blvd., Suite 202
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 360-0091 phone

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 22, 2005
CONTACT: Lena Kaimian

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Armenian Genocide Legislation

Los Angeles, CA – Armenian Assembly of America Western Office Chairman
Richard Mushegain, Bay Area Regional Council Chair Suzanne Abnous,
and Western Office Director Lena Kaimian were part of a pan-community
delegation attending Armenian Genocide 90th Anniversary Commemorative
activities in Sacramento on April 21.

Kaimian was among several community leaders that were invited to
witness California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign SB 424 into law.
The new law, originally authored by State Senator Charles Poochigian,
permanently designates April 24 as “Day of Remembrance of the Armenian
Genocide.”

During the signing ceremony Kaimian thanked the Governor for his
continuous support of the Armenian American community in California.
Armenian Assembly of America Western Office Chairman Richard Mushegain
commented, “The Armenian-American community is very appreciative
of Governor Schwarzenegger’s efforts to commemorate the Armenian
Genocide during the 90th anniversary this crime against humanity.
The Governor has become one of the leaders in the movement for
reaffirming the Armenian Genocide. We look forward to working with
him and other leaders in preventing future genocides.”

Prior to the signing ceremony, the Armenian Assembly representatives
along with members of the pan-community delegation witnessed the
unanimous passage of Genocide legislation in both the State Senate
and the Assembly. Throughout the day the Assembly delegation met with
numerous members of the California Senate including Senators Poochigian
(R-Fresno), Scott (D-Altadena), Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and Speier
(D-Hillsborough). The delegation also met with California State
Assembly members Aghazarian (R-Stockton), Frommer (D-Los Angeles),
Liu (D- La Canada), and Villines (R-Clovis).

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.