Author: Dabaghian Diana

ACTIVISTS FROM ACROSS GOLDEN STATE TO JOIN ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA-WESTERN REGION FOR ADVOCACY DAY AND ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATIONS

Noyan Tapan
March 24, 2010

SACRAMENTO, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN-ARMENIANS TODAY. Activists from
across the Golden State will join the Armenian National Committee
of America-Western Region for Advocacy Day and the Armenian Genocide
Commemorations in the California State Legislature. The Legislature
floor commemorations and the Advocacy Day will take place on
Thursday, April 15, 2010 in Sacramento and will be part of a series
of commemorative activities slated for the 95th Commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide. "We continue to work toward the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide nationally and internationally," stated
Karnig Dukmajian, ANCA-WR State Affairs Committee Member. According to
, Assemblymembers Anthony Portantino and Kevin de Leon
will host the iWitness photo exhibit in the Rotunda of the Capitol
Building. The photo exhibit is a photographic project that began in
1995, when artists Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian began documenting
survivors of the Armenian Genocide. During Advocacy Day, Armenian
Americans will help raise awareness among California legislators
regarding the history of the Armenian Genocide and other issues of
concern to the Armenian American community.

HOVHANNES HOVHANNISSYAN SAYS SERIOUS CHANGES ARE EXPECTED IN THE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS AND NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT REGULATION PROCESS TILL SEPTEMBER

95580/lang/en
2010-03-23
YEREVAN

Serious changes are expected in the Armenian-Turkish relations and
Nagorno Karabakh conflict regulation process in the near future,
leader of the Armenia’s Liberal Party, member of the Armenian National
Congress Hovhannes Hovhannissyan said.

According to him, till September the mentioned issues will probably
get their solutions as the big powers of the world are interested in
it, particularly the USA, Russia, and the EU.

H. Hovhannissyan says during the recent ten years no changes have
been registered in the NK issue as the USA and Russia were busy
with the inner and foreign challenges, fighting against terrorism,
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Now the USA has somehow focused on the
Armenian-Turkish and NK issues which will promote their solution. The
United States and the EU are greatly interested in the South Caucasus
and have their interests here," he said.

WOLVES TOO

39.html
12:08:41 – 22/03/2010

In the night of March 19, wolves attacked a village of Armavir region
killing 40 sheep. The village department and the veterinarian service
have been informed.

U.S. CONGRESSIONAL PANEL RECOGNIZE AS GENOCIDE 1915 MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS BY OTTOMAN TURKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2010 14:15 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A U.S. congressional panel has described as Genocide
the 1915 killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. The non-binding
resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee recommends that
President Barak Obama recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks as Genocide. The measure was passed by a narrow 23 to
22 vote with one member not participating.

Historians agree Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire –
what was to become Turkey – during World War I. But not all agree
that it was genocide, VOA News reported.

Ronald Suny, an expert on Armenia with the University of Chicago,
defines genocide. "The definition of genocide that is most often used
is the official U.N. definition in the Genocide Convention of the late
1940s. And that definition argues that a genocide is the intentional
killing of all or part of a designated people defined by their faith,
their race, their ethnicity or their nationality," he said.

Suny explains that during the First World War, the Ottoman Empire
sided with Germany and was thus at war with Russia and most of Europe.

"When the Ottomans were defeated at a major battle in the winter of
1914-15, the government saw the Armenians, who were on both sides
of the Russian-Turkish frontier, as a potential ‘fifth column’ –
a danger, an internal danger to their empire," he said.

"And they then carried out systematically, deportations of Armenians
from eastern Anatolia, first demobilizing the Armenian soldiers who
were serving with the Ottoman army, forcing them to dig their graves
and shooting them. And then women and children, deporting them into
the deserts of Syria, massacring them along the way and ultimately
killing thousands and thousands when they reached Dayr az Zawr,
the end point in the Syrian desert," he added.

Suny says the case is clear – the action by the Ottoman Turks was
genocide. "There is no doubt that there was, in fact, a state
organized, systematic deportation and massacre of a designated
population, defined by their religion and ethnicity, namely the
Armenians," he said.

"And that it was carried out, initiated and organized by this
government. So if you have a mass killing of an ethno-religious group,
carried out by a government in order to eliminate those people from
their homeland, or to destroy their political and cultural potential –
that is, by the conventional definition and most scholarly definitions,
a genocide," he continued.

The majority of scholars and historians agree with Ronald Suny. But
Guenter Lewy from the University of Massachusetts does not. "I don’t
think there was any intent to exterminate the Armenian community.

There was an intent to remove them and neutralize them as a fifth
column," he said. Experts also disagree on the number of Armenians
killed by the Ottoman Turks. Guenter Lewy says close to 700,000
perished.

But most scholars – such as Roger Smith with the College of William and
Mary – say the figure is higher. "Out of about two million Armenians
that were thought to exist in 1915, probably about a million and a half
– at least over a million – perished and others were dispersed. So
that if you say in 1915 there were two million Armenians in what
we call Turkey, but the Ottoman Empire – there are now about 60,000
Armenians in Turkey. So a huge, vast population change," he said.

ERDOGAN’S WORDS UNMASK REAL TURKISH DEMOCRACY: ARFD

news.am
March 19 2010
Armenia

In a private conversation with ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction leader
Vahan Hovhannisyan, a U.S. high ranking official confessed that in
his opinion compared to Armenia, Turkey is more democratic, ARFD
leader said at the RA National Assembly briefing.

"I must say it is our fault: with our fabricated election results,
corruption and bribery we give the foreigners such impression, and
we should make the relevant inferences. We have to change everything
in our country, carry out the necessary reforms urging incumbent or
future authorities (most probably other authorities) to observe state
interests," Hovhannisyan maintained. However, ARFD leader stressed
that statements voiced by Turkish leadership and Erdogan’s recent
threats about deportation of Armenians will remove the scales from
international community eyes on the bare of Turkish democracy.

"Now I would like to refer to enthusiastic statements by Armenian
authorities on Genocide recognition by the U.S. House Committee on
Foreign Affairs as well as Swedish and Catalonian Parliaments.

Representatives of pro-governmental parties try to put it in as
an achievement of Armenian leadership policy and initiative on
Armenia-Turkey rapprochement in particular. As a representative of
political force directly involved in Armenian Genocide recognition
lobbying abroad, I can declare that after the Armenia-Turkey
reconciliation process launch, Genocide recognition by international
parliaments became more complicated," Hovhannisyan added.

He also noted that debates in the U.S. House Committee prove this,
as almost all Congressmen emphasized that Genocide Resolution’s
adoption is unadvisable while Armenia-Turkey dialogue is underway.

"Incidentally, Congressman from Solomon Islands whose vote was casting
concurs with this. What it costed us to have that vote in known to
us only," MP stated.

Speaking of the U.S. stance on Protocols’ ratification, Hovhannisyan
said that it makes no difference for Washington who will ratify them
first. "However, I do insist that it is high time for Armenia to
recall the signature from the Protocols," he concluded.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: IRAN’S BUSHEHR NUCLEAR POWER TO BE LAUNCHED THIS SUMMER

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2010 12:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that
Iran’s first nuclear power plant is due to come online this summer.

Putin made his remarks at a meeting on nuclear-industry matters today
in the southern Russian city of Volgodonsk, RFE/RL reported.

Russia has been helping Iran build the facility near the southern
Iranian city of Bushehr since the mid-1990s, but its launch has been
slowed by several delay

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a visit to Moscow on Thursday
warned Russia against launching the plant until Tehran proves that
it’s not pursuing atomic weapons.

"If it reassures the world, or if its behavior is changed because of
international sanctions, then they can pursue peaceful, civil nuclear
power. In the absence of those reassurances, we think it would be
premature to go forward with any project at this time, because we want
to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians," she said at a briefing
following her talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

ERDOGAN’S DEPORT ARMENIANS STATEMENT NOT THE FIRST SUCH COMMENT FROM TURKISH OFFICIALS

Tert.am
15:09 * 18.03.10

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan’s statement on deporting
Armenians living illegally in Turkey, this time, has received worldwide
coverage: it’s become an issue of discussion not only in Turkey,
but also outside the country.

However, it’s important to note that this isn’t the first time that
Turkish officials have made such statements, using Armenians living
illegally in Turkey as a "playing card" in a game of diplomacy between
Yerevan and Ankara.

The Turkish public first heard about Armenians living illegally in
Turkey in 2000, when then-Prime Minister Tansu Ciller was opposing
a US Congress resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

After assuming the position, current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdoðan occasionally threatened to deport "40,000 citizens of Armenia
living illegally," if necessary, from Turkey. That statement by
Erdoðan immediately gained support from Turkey’s not only ruling,
but also opposition parties.

For instance, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP, Turkey-EU
Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chair Yaþar Yakýþ has said that the
number of Armenians living illegally in Turkey was getting close to
70,000 and repeated Erdoðan’s "if necessary, we’ll send them back"
rhetoric.

On another occasion, Republican People’s Party member Þukru Elekdað,
speaking about the "70,000 illegal Armenian immigrants," said that
they need to be sent back in "columns."

LET TIME SHOW IF ANKARA IS WILLING TO RATIFY PROTOCOLS, NALBANIDAN SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.03.2010 15:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia initiated the process of normalization of
relations with Turkey and signed the Protocols despite all obstacles,
RA Foreign Minister said.

"Yerevan is willing to move forward. Let time show whether Ankara is
willing too," Edward Nalbandian said during a joint news conference
with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak.

Mr. Lajcak, for his part, voiced hope that the Protocols will be
ratified without preconditions and linkage to other processes.

As to Turkey’s EU bid, he said Ankara should meet all commitments to
be accepted to the Union.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of
the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks
held through Swiss mediation. On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to
the country’s Organic Law.

TURKEY IN THREAT TO EXPEL ARMENIANS

Al-Jazeera
/news/europe/2010/03/2010317142257170804.html
Marc h 17 2010
Qatar

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has threatened to expel
thousands of illegal Armenian workers amid tensions over allegations
that their people were victims of genocide under the Ottoman Empire.

Resolutions voted recently in the United States and Sweden to brand
the World War I killings as genocide undermined peace efforts with
Armenia, Erdogan told the BBC Turkish service.

Referring to about 100,000 Armenians working illegally in Turkey out
of a total of 170,000 living there, Erdogan said: "Only 70,000 of
them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the remaining 100,000.

"If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to go back to their
country because they are not my citizens. I don’t have to keep them
in my country."

Forced to leave their impoverished country to earn a living, thousands
of Armenians, mostly women, have settled in Turkey, mainly in Istanbul.

Many came after an earthquake in their homeland in 1988 and work
illegally, mainly in manual jobs or as nannies and cleaning ladies,
sending remittances home.

"So what will I do tomorrow? If necessary, I will tell them ‘come on,
back to your country’."

‘Negative impact’

Erdogan blamed the genocide resolutions on the influential Armenian
diaspora in the US and Western Europe.

"We are extending our hand, but if our counterparts clench their hand
into a fist, there will be nothing we can do," he said.

"Those people make shows with those resolutions … And they harm
the Armenian people as well … And things become deadlocked.

"Those actions [on genocide resolutions] unfortunately have a negative
impact on our sincere attitudes."

Following Swiss-brokered talks to end decades of enmity, Turkey and
Armenia signed an accord in October to establish diplomatic ties and
open their border.

The process, however, has hit snags, with both countries accusing
each other of lacking true commitment to the deal.

US measure

The climate was further inflamed this month when the US House Foreign
Affairs Committee approved a non-binding resolution branding the
massacres of Armenians a genocide, with the Swedish parliament
following suit last week.

Turkey recalled its ambassadors from both countries, warning that
bilateral ties and reconciliation efforts with Armenia would suffer.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin perished in a systematic
extermination campaign during World War I as the Ottoman Empire
fell apart.

Turkey counters that between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians, and at
least as many Turks, were killed in civil strife when Armenians rose
up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.

Parliaments in several other countries have also recognised the mass
killings as genocide in the past.

WORLD’S AZERBAIJANIS UNION STARTS PROTEST CAMPAIGN ON SO-CALLED "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"

Trend
March 16 2010
Azerbaijan

World’s Azerbaijanis Union (DAB) in Belgium has started a campaign of
letters of protest in connection the support in different countries
for so-called "Armenian genocide", the press service of the State
Committee for Work with the Diaspora told Trend News.

According to the head of DAB Adalat Guliyev, the letters of protest
under the slogan "No to H. Res 252!!!" strongly condemn the decision
H. Res 252 of U.S. House of Representatives committee on foreign
affairs dated March 4, which recognizes the so-called "Armenian
genocide", the decision of the committee on foreign affairs on the
same content, as well as Swedish Parliament’s official recognition
of so-called "Armenian genocide" on March 11.

The letters were addressed to U.S. President Barack Obama, Vice
President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, international
organizations, as well as every congressman and senator recognizing
and supporting the "Armenian genocide".

Together with the facts confirming the absence of such event as
"Armenian genocide" in the history, the letters contain information
on Armenia’s occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories,
UN and Council of Europe resolutions on withdrawal of armed forces
of Armenia from the occupied lands and the challenge to recognize
Khojaly genocide.