Author: Harutyunian Christine

TURKEY’S CHARM OFFENSIVE

Middle East Online
2009-10-12 10:06:05

If Sarkozy remains deaf to President Gul’s message, it is certainly
being heard in the Arab world, where Turkish influence is very much
on the rise, together with a certain nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire,
says Patrick Seale.

In a three-day visit to Paris this past week, Turkey’s charismatic
President Abdallah Gul managed to win over countless French people,
including many leading intellectuals — but not President Nicolas
Sarkozy, who remains adamantly opposed to Turkey’s entry into the
European Union.

Last Friday’s Gul-Sarkozy meeting has been described as courteous but
frosty. On leaving the Elysée Palace, Gul made no statement. Turkey
recognises Sarkozy as a major obstacle to its European ambitions.

To coincide with Gul’s visit, some 400 events have been staged
throughout France celebrating Turkey’s history, culture and
contemporary achievements, including a sumptuous exhibition of Ottoman
treasures at the Grand Palais, a vast glass structure just off the
Champs-Elysées, in the heart of Paris.

No visitor to this exhibition can fail to be impressed by the power
and sophistication of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over parts of
south-eastern Europe and the Arab world for over 400 years until its
defeat and dismemberment in the First World War. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
— the creator of the Republic of Turkey — carved the modern state
out of the ruins of the Empire.

In France, President Gul’s intention was evidently to overcome the
suspicion of Islam – and of Turkey seen as an Islamic power — shared
by many ordinary people. Large-scale immigration from North Africa,
scare-mongering about ‘Islamic terror’, and the import into France of
Middle East conflicts have all played their part in shaping negative
French attitudes.

To counter such prejudices, Gul’s message was simple and direct:
Turkey is a major country, with a global reach. Although Turkey’s
population is nd secular, built on the rule of law. It is a force for
security, stability and peace in the Middle East, the Balkans, the
Caucasus and Central Asia. It is actively seeking to adopt European
norms, and extend them to the region around it. Ataturk’s slogan of
‘Peace at home and peace abroad,’ remains the guiding principle of
Turkey’s foreign policy.

If Sarkozy remains deaf to this message, it is certainly being heard
in the Arab world, where Turkish influence is very much on the rise,
together with a certain nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire which,
with hindsight, is being compared favourably to the colonial rule of
Britain and France between the world wars.

The Arabs have been discovering that, economically and strategically,
Turkey is the region’s "big brother." Its armed forces are the
largest in the region, while its GDP, at over $1,000bn in 2008,
outstrips that of Iran ($840bn) and Saudi Arabia ($600bn) — without
the benefit of oil revenues — as well as that of Egypt ($450bn) and
Israel ($205bn). As the 17th largest economy in the world, Turkey is
a member of the G20, and played host earlier this month to the annual
meeting of the IMF and World Bank.

In addition, Turkey has emerged as a potential peace-broker of Middle
East conflicts, at a time when the European Union seems ineffective,
because of divisions between its members, and when even the United
States under President Barack Obama seems to be faltering.

In 2008, Turkey sponsored indirect talks between Israel and Syria
— a role it is prepared to resume when the parties indicate their
readiness. By all accounts, last year’s indirect talks made good
progress, and were about to advance to direct exchanges, until Israel’s
cruel war in Gaza caused Syria to withdraw. Like opinion in much of
the Arab world, Turkish opinion was greatly offended by Israel’s
senseless brutality against a captive and virtually defenceless
Palestinian population.

Meanwhile, the Syrian-Turkish relationship has flourished, with
frequent exchanges of high-le o integrate the two economies while
a visa agreement has facilitated movement of persons across their
common border.

Turkey has been at pains to spread peace and goodwill across the
region. It has been careful not to take sides in the Sunni-Shia
divide; it has established good relations with the Maliki government in
Baghdad, while pressing for the integration of the Sunni community in
a united Iraq; it has tried to mediate between Palestinian factions;
it has helped to bring about the recent Saudi-Syrian reconciliation;
it is seeking to devise a peaceful approach to the Kurds in Turkey;
and in Switzerland on 10 October, Turkey and Armenia signed a detailed
protocol, laying the groundwork for normal relations between these
ancient antagonists.

More acutely perhaps than most European countries, Turkey is aware
that the Arab-Israeli conflict, if left unresolved, could explode into
violence at any moment, with grave consequences for everyone. It is
lending its strong support to President Obama’s peace efforts.

In brief, President Gul’s message is that Europe needs Turkey to
help contain, and hopefully resolve, the many conflicts afflicting
a turbulent Middle East.

Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on the Middle East, and the
author of The Struggle for Syria; also, Asad of Syria: The Struggle
for the Middle East; and Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.

Copyright © 2009 Patrick Seale – distributed by Agence Global

SERGE SARGSYAN TO LEAVE FOR TURKEY

15512.html
14:24:52 – 12/10/2009

Today, Serge Sargsyan, before leaving for Moscow, told reporters
that if nothing extraordinary happens within the following two days,
he will leave for Bursa to support our national football team.

"The Turkish president invited me in written form and I do not have
grounds to refuse my counterpart", said Serge Sargsyan.

WHAT WAS THE REASON OF DAVUTOGHLU’S SMILE DESPITE NALBANDIAN’S SERIOUSNESS?

ArmInfo
2009-10-12 15:21:00

ArmInfo. The reason of protracted signing of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols in Zurich was the speech by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davudoghlu which was a provocation containing a hint at Karabakh,
Richard Giragosian, Director at Armenian Center for National and
International Studies (ACNIS), told media on Monday.

"Signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols was dragged out, which was
very interesting and informative for us. It revealed Turkey’s strategy
of playing with Armenia and making new demands at any favorable
opportunity. Thanks to that, Turkey got an opportunity to make a
strategic test for Armenia to see Armenia’s response. At the same time,
it became a test for the international community," he said. Giragosian
believes that the given step by Turkey has disappointed both the
Swiss and US delegations that were not informed of the situation. He
highlighted that the Swiss and American delegations supported Armenia
whereas Russian and European stayed aside.

"That was the very reason of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoghlu’s smiling and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s
seriousness. The Turkish test failed since the Armenian party
threatened to leave back to Armenia if the Turkish party kept on its
provocation," Giragosian said.

Armenia and Turkey signed the "Protocol on the establishment
of diplomatic relations" and the "Protocol on the development of
bilateral relations" in Zurich on October 10. To come into effect
the protocols must be submitted to the respective Parliaments for
the ratification on each side. Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic
relations and their border was closed in 1993 by Ankara.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM GREETED WITH FLOWERS IN BURSA

Tert.am
12.10.09

The Armenian national football team has already arrived in the Turkish
city of Bursa, where the notable 2010 Armenia-Turkey FIFA World Cup
qualifying match will take place on October 14, 2009.

The Armenian national team was greeted with flowers by executives from
the Turkish Football Federation at International Yenisehir Aiport in
Bursa, reports the Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansi.

Anadolu Ajansi also reports that unprecedented security measures were
taken at the airport: the Armenian team’s bus was protected by police
escorts who formed, not one, but three rings of human barriers around
the bus.

The Armenian team will be staying at the Holiday Inn and will begin
its first training session in Turkey today.

Statement on introducing clause on Karabakh caused delay in Protocol
signing
10.10.2009 22:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Delay in signing of Armenian-Turkish Protocols was
caused by Turkish FM’s desire to introduce in documents clauses
concerning Karabakh conflict, a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reports
from Zurich.

All delagations who gathered in Zurich university have already
returned. Armenian delgation was headed by RA Ambassador to
Switzerland Charles Aznavur.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email. [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE

October 8, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA STATEMENT ON U.S. PRESSURE FOR ADOPTION OF THE TURKEY- ARMENIA
PROTOCOLS

WASHINGTON, DC – Following is the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) statement on ongoing pressure by the Obama
Administration on Armenia to sign the Turkey- Armenia Protocols.

Over the past week, tens of thousands of Armenian Americans joined
with Armenians around the world in protesting the Protocols,
provisions of which would undermine efforts to secure justice for the
Armenian Genocide and hamper ongoing Nagorno Karabagh peace
negotiations.

For more information on the protocols, see the following links:

The ANCA’s point by point analysis of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols:
tocols_explained.pdf

ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian’s Letter to Secretary of State Clinton:
9_clintonletter.pd f

Asbarez / Armenian Weekly Survey on the Turkey-Armenia Protocols:
over-90-of-armenian-
americans-oppose-protocols/

To learn more about the Turkey-Armenia Protocols, visit:

#####

ANCA STATEMENT ON U.S. PRESSURE FOR ADOPTION OF THE TURKEY- ARMENIA
PROTOCOLS

The Armenian National Committee of America expresses regret at news of
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s participation in a possible
signing ceremony for the Turkey-Armenia Protocols.

The Obama Administration’s attempts to force Armenia into one-sided
concessions, through adoption of the Turkey- Armenia protocols, is
short-sighted and will, in the long term, create more problems than it
solves.

There can, as a matter of both basic morality and political reality,
be no healthy or enduring relationship between Armenia and Turkey that
is not built upon the foundation of Turkey’s acceptance of a true and
just resolution of the Armenian Genocide.

The U.S. arm-twisting of the government in Yerevan to accept an
agreement that would call this very crime against humanity into
question, both squanders America’s moral capital in the cause of
genocide prevention, and sets back the cause of genuine
Armenian-Turkish dialogue by many years.

The Protocol’s proposed establishment of a "historical commission," is
already being used by Turkey’s leaders to bolster their government’s
worldwide campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide. U.S. pressure to
adopt these flawed documents dishonors the noble efforts of
U.S. diplomats, such as Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, Consul Leslie
Davis, and others, who courageously worked to stop the Armenian
Genocide between 1915 and 1923 – efforts that are well documented in
the U.S. national archives. It also stands in sharp contrast to
President Obama’s campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Rather than honoring this moral commitment, the President has, sadly,
used the full force of American diplomacy to compel Armenia, a
landlocked and blockaded nation still seeking to overcome the brutal
legacy of the Armenian Genocide, to agree to a process that calls into
question this crime against all humanity.

Armenian Americans remain deeply opposed, along with the rest of the
Armenian Diaspora and a growing tide of domestic opposition within
Armenia itself, to this one- sided agreement that directly threatens
the security of Armenia, surrenders the rights of the Armenian nation,
and insults the dignity of every Armenian.

MANCHESTER’S ARMENIAN PAST
Neil Roland

South Manchester
k/news/columnist/neil_roland/s/1161883_manchesters _armenian_past
October 08, 2009

OUR house was built in the final years of Victoria’s reign, and until
I bought it almost 20 ago, only one family had lived in it. Four
children have been born here in total. The most recent, our son, was
actually born at St Mary’s but was returned here shortly afterwards,
so the romantic in me is happy to glide over such precision of fact.

The other three were named Arto, Adrine and Ara Arschavir (could
some subconscious desire to continue this chain of first vowel naming
have nudged me to give my son Asher as a middle name?) Even now, 98
years after the birth of Arto and just three weeks since his death,
this house is still offering up secrets and signs of their long and
happy tenure here.

On the third morning of the Didsbury Arts Festival, two elegant ladies
arrived at my home studio. They could well have been Sephardic Jewish
in appearance, but were in fact Armenian – two of the last members
of their generation to still live in Manchester, the city where this
most fascinating and attractive immigrant culture made its home.

Armenia has threaded links with Britain since the 13th century, when
Henry III exchanged letters with King Hetoum in which the Armenian
monarch appealled for help from the Crusaders. But it was from the
middle of the 19th century that Armenians started to settle here as
merchants. It was to Manchester that they came first, the earliest
silk merchants arriving in 1835. Hovsep Capamagian became the first
Armenian British national in 1847.

By the 1860s, there were some 30 Armenian merchants in business in
Manchester and a new influx escalated after the first wave of Armenian
persecutions in Ottoman Turkey in the 1880s. This culminated in the
Armenian genocide of 1915, which saw, over the following decade, the
deportation and murder of more than one and a half million Armenians
living within the Otto enly to have recognised in the face of Turkish
reluctance ever since.

The ladies who arrived that morning, with Guessarian and Doudian,
reminded me of Adrine Arschavir, known to all as Kitty. It is something
in the eyes – a lively, warm, dark intelligence and quite distinct
from any other group. They of course had known the Arschavirs for
many decades, and knew the house well – recalling with fondness
the delicious meals prepared by Harriet, the family’s maid, who had
lived here in what is now our bedroom, and of the Arschavir parents,
Madeleine and Levon, and Auntie Eugenie Gurdjikian – who had lived
for some 80 years in the attic bedroom now occupied by our son.

Just like Didsbury’s Sephardic Jewish community, which settled here
from the countries of the Middle East in the 19th and early 20th
century as merchants, they were fortunate to find a haven here. While
co-religionists in Europe were persecuted, the Armenian community
in Manchester set about establishing an admirable infrastructure of
support for their compatriots suffering abroad. In 1920, the Manchester
Armenians chartered three ships filled with clothing and medical
supplies for those attempting to survive in the short-lived Republic
of Armenia, while the Armenian Ladies Association (1907) sought to
help those abroad and integrate Armenians into local British society.

The Manchester community’s first spiritual leader was Rev Father
Garabed Shahnazarian, who celebrated the first Armenian Holy Mass in
a rented chapel in 1863 and presided over the establishment of the
Holy Trinity Apostolic Church – Britain’s first Armenian Church –
seven years later. The church, on Upper Brook Street, continues to
serve the community today, though no longer has its own priest.

The parallels with the Jewish community seem apparent. So much so,
that when former Manchester High School pupil Adrine Yegwart of
Withington met her future husband, Mancunian Lance Middleton, his way
of describing what Armenians were like to his parents was like Jews,
but Chr er the first Armenian visitors also brought back memories of
Kitty Arschavir, who until retirement taught in Northenden at Bazeley
Road Primary School. Bursting with life, twinkling with affection
and keenly interested in the fascinations of the world around them.

The local Armenian community is dwindling now. As Joan George,
author of the fascinating seminal work on Manchester’s Armenians,
‘Merchants In Exile 1835-1935’ acknowledged, like every community the
first generation often absorbs itself in its new surroundings. There
is assimilation and it is up to the second generation to rediscover
the past. There are an estimated 15,000 to 18,000 Armenians living in
the UK today, but Manchester’s have all but disappeared to assimilation
to London and beyond.

The inspirational cookery writer and excellent abstract artist Arto
der Haroutunian, who died aged 47 just over 20 years ago, founded
with his brother in 1970 what most Mancunians think of when they
think of Armenia – the original Armenian Taverna in Albert Square. It
is still a real, if time-warped, gastronomic gem. David Dickinson,
who was adopted by a couple in Cheadle Heath, discovered that his
natural grandfather was an Armenian silk merchant who traded on the
same Manchester streets in 1910 as David did half a century later.

As for the Arschavirs – Ara and Arto (Archie) – both became architects
(try saying Archie Arschavir the architect!). Ara moved to Oxford
and Archie to Hull, before returning to Didsbury. I feel privileged
to have met Archie on several occasions. He reminded me of Picasso
with his glossy, clever eyes and look of mischief. And even now,
20 years after moving into the house in which they were all born,
I am discovering evidence of that mischief. Arto scratched into the
odd brick and door frame and just last week, the sun glinting on a
bedroom window, I saw an intriguingly provocative comment scratched
in the glass three quarters of a century ago.

ICG: ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN SHOULD ENDORSE A DOCUMENT ON BASIC PRINCIPLES TO END STALEMATE ON THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT, OR THEY WILL FACE AN EVENTUAL RETURN TO FULL- SCALE HOSTILITIES

ArmInfo
2009-10-08 10:53:00

ArmInfo. Armenia and Azerbaijan should endorse a document on basic
principles to end stalemate on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the
end of the year, or they will face an eventual return to full-scale
hostilities, yesterday’s statement by International Crisis Group says.

Nagorno-Karabakh: Getting to a Breakthrough,* the International Crisis
Group’s latest policy briefing, examines the two-decades-old conflict
and concludes there is reason for optimism that the political stalemate
can be broken in today’s more supportive regional environment. However,
it also warns that both governments and the international community
must step up their efforts, as the status quo is increasingly
untenable.

"Although a deliberate military offensive from either side is unlikely
in the near future, the ceasefire that ended active hostilities
fifteen years ago is increasingly fragile", says Lawrence Sheets,
Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project Director. "There has been a steady
increase in the frequency and intensity of armed skirmishes that
could unintentionally spark a wider conflict".

As a first step to conflict resolution, Presidents Sarkisian of
Armenia and Aliyev of Azerbaijan must prepare their publics for a
possible peace deal.

At present, there is a danger of a backlash, especially among
Armenians, that could derail any basic principles agreement. After
this agreement is signed, Nagorno-Karabakh’s de facto authorities and
the Nagorno-Karabakh Azeri representatives should be part of subsequent
peace talks. Crisis Group recommends the use of a multi-layered format,
including direct contacts between Azerbaijan and Karabakh Armenians
to help promote dialogue.

The international community, in particular the U.S., France and
Russia as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, should intensify efforts
to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to formally endorse the basic
principles document and then open negotiations on a conclusive peace
accord. The co-chairs should take advantage not only of their own
productive collaboration, but also of current positive movement
towards Armenia-Turkey rapprochement.

"There are encouraging signs the sides are inching towards
agreement", explains Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group’s Europe Program
Director. "But differences still remain between Armenia and Azerbaijan
on the specifics of a final deal, most seriously over Nagorno-
Karabakh’s final status, and there is mutual distrust between the
societies. Though a definitive settlement may still be years away,
this window of opportunity to make genuine progress and support
sustainable regional peace must not be missed".

ARMENIA DE-FACTO AND DE-JURE RECOGNIZES TURKEY’S CURRENT BORDERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2009 20:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia builds its policy considering the
Armenian-Turkish border which must be open, Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan said today during Parliament’s Q&A session, answering Heritage
leader Raffi Hovhannisyan’s question on whether Government’s position
had legal bases.

RA de facto and de jure recognizes the borders inherited from Soviet
Armenia, its legal predecessor, Premier stressed.

At that he noted that considering political pragmatism, it was
unrealistic to call into question current borders with Turkey. "Such
debates will certainly continue, but we choose the reality we have
inherited," Mr. Sargsyan said, summing up his speech.

YOUTH HOLD HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST PROTOCOLS AT ARMENIAN CONSULATE

Asbarez
06/youth-hold-hunger-strike-against-protocols-at-a rmenian-consulate/
Oct 6th, 2009

Patriotic Singer Karnig Sarkisian to Visit Hunger Strikers Tuesday
Night

GLENDALE-In the aftermath of President Serzh Sarkisian’s visit to
Los Angeles, more than a dozen Armenian youth from the "Stop the
Protocols" Campaign have initiated a hunger strike in front of the
Armenian Consulate of Los Angeles.

The hunger strike, which began at midnight on October 6 with a candle
light vigil and opening prayer, attracted over a hundred people who
came in support of the 28 youth who would be fasting for 4 days in
opposition to the protocols.

The participants, standing in solidarity with hunger strikers
in Armenia, are calling on the government of Armenia to stop the
detrimental and one-sided Protocols between Armenia and Turkey. They
have vowed to maintain their hunger strike in an effort to prevent
the administration in Yerevan from signing these flawed documents.

Members of the community can visit the hunger strikers to express
support and encouragement to the youth as they take a stand for the
community and the national interests of the Armenian people. Renowned
Armenian patriotic singer Karnig Sarkissian will be visiting the
hunger strikers Tuesday 8pm to offer his encouragement and maintain
their spirits through the singing of revolutionary/patriotic songs.

Community members are also asked to stand in solidarity with the
strikers by calling the Consulate every day to express their strong
opposition to the protocols. 818-265-5900 The Armenian consulate is
located on the corner of Glenoaks and Central at 1000 N. Central Ave,
Glendale, CA 91202.

For more information: Contact the AYF Office at 818-507-1933
visit: Follow the campaign
on twitter: Watch videos: