Author: Hovhannisian John

13:41 22/03/2010 » Region
Turkish actress receives death threats over pronouncing genocide

Turkish actress Pelin Batu pronounced the word genocide when speaking
about 1915 events carried out in the Ottoman Empire at a
Haberturk-aired program, bringing the program co-authors Murat
Bardakchi and Erhan Afyoncui into fury.

The Turkish actress appeared to be in hazard due to her expression,
Hurriyet reported. Batu said, she received death threats over
pronouncing the word genocide.
Note that with her mother being of Albanian decent, Pelin Batu is the
daughter of a resigned Turkish diplomat and former parliamentarian
Inal Batu.

Source: Panorama.am

DAY OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH

16:59:39 – 25/03/2010
hos17297.html

On March 25, in the `Asparez’ Journalists’ club, the Day of Freedom of
Speech was celebrated which traditionally is celebrated in Gyumri
since hundreds of thousands of citizens united around one idea to
support the GALA TV which was attacked by several wings of the
government.

The Day of Freedom of Speech and the Asparez club pointed out the work
of a number of journalists and press means awarding them with
souvenirs.

Tatul Hakobyan for his `Green and Black’ book, ,
journalist Voskan Sargsyan, Photo reporter Gagik Shamshyan journalist
Armenuhi Vardanyan, ,

SCR and Georgian railway develop joint measures to improve quality of
transport services

2010-03-26 11:40:00

ArmInfo. Meeting of representatives of SCR CJSC and Georgian Railway
LLC, headed by Director Generals Shevket Shaydullin and Irakli
Ezugbaiya was held on March 22-23 in Tbilisi. The parties discussed a
wide circle of issues concerning freight and passenger traffic,
information and communication technologies. SCR CJSC and Georgian
Railway LLC agreed to create a working group to deal with marketing
analysis and specification of measures on increasing the freight
traffic between Georgia and Armenia. Organization of the upcoming
seasonal communication Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan has become the key topic
of the meeting. The parties agreed to form one train of the Georgian
Railways LLC registration and two trains of SCR CJSC registration, one
of which should be formed via switching of a passenger train of SCR
CJSC registration of Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan direction to the
interstate communication Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan. The parties also
agreed to vest 80% of "to and from" tickets for the passenger trains
Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan in SCR CJSC. Participants in the meeting paid
special to the issue of reduction of the travel time of
Yerevan-Tbilisi train. Heads of the companies emphasized the
importance of experience and information exchange for further
deepening of cooperation, as well as creation of fairness and
competitiveness for both parties for improvement of quality of
transport services.

SCR CJSC is the 100 percent subsidiary of Russian Railways CJSC. In
February 2008 SCR obtained a concession of the state CJSC Armenian
Railway. The agreement of concession of the Armenian Railroad CJSC for
30 years with a 10-year renewable period was signed in Yerevan in
February 2008.

Reddit.com and Breadpig founder tells about promotion of ideas on the web

25.03.2010 21:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A well-known social entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian from
the U.S. met on March 25 with representatives of nongovernmental
organizations in Armenia. "There are many problems in the world: it is
necessary to focus your audience on a specific group or a
person,’Alexis Ohanian said. Alexis Ohanian is also known as
co-founder of news aggregator reddit.com.

In 2007, Alexis Ohanian founded a social enterprise Breadpig for sale
of amusing things. All proceeds from the sales he directed to
construction of schools. Breadpig sold 25 000 copies of its last
product Book xkcd. Over the last 2 years the company has provided to
charity about $ 100 000.

The meeting was organized by "Professionals for Civil Society" NGO,
the successor of the USAID program "Development of NGO sector in
Armenia".

STRUGGLE OF "TEAMMATES" GETTING TENSER

March 23, 2010

The statements of the former minister of foreign affairs of Armenia
Vardan Oskanyan regarding the current unfavorable situation of the
regulation of the NKR conflict have created a real panic within the
government. Oskanyan has said that Armenia has appeared in the same
phase as in 1998 and one of the ways of overcoming the crisis is the
change of the government. Especially the last thought has originated
the anger of the RPA members, who have without lingering responded
to the statements of Oskanyan. "He had been our teammate for 10 years.

Oskanyan, Robert Kocharyan and others are our teammates. We are
continuing the policy of Robert Kocharyan, Oskanyan and why not
even Serzh Sargsyan’s policy but we are being criticized because
they are not in the government any more. Why shall we resign if we
have turned our country into a serious factor in the world?" stated
the RPA deputy-chair Razmik Zohrabyan. Oskanyan has been making
such criticizing statements for over a year now but we have never
responded to those. The governmental wing has been ignoring those. It
is obvious that this "sentiment" of the RPA members is stipulated by
the possible return of Kocharyan into politics. This means that the
government is feeling fear in this regard. Perhaps it is no accident
that the government feels certain hazard in that. It is no accident
that among the ones, who responded to the statements of Oskanyan
was also Edward Sharmazanov, RPA spokesperson. This means that in
this affair are in charge those RPA members, who are responding
to the statements of the Armenian National Congress and the first
president Levon Ter-Petrosyan in an online mode. By the way, in an
"interesting coincidence" Oskanyan’s remarks were heard only after the
famous announcement of the chair of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik
Tsarukyan addressed to the minister of economy Nerses Yeritsyan. So
we may say that the RPA-Kocharyan conflict is entering a new phase.

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
March 25, 2010
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

TWENTY-SEVEN REPRESENTATIVES JOIN WITH PALLONE IN CALLING FOR U.S.-
NAGORNO KARABAGH DIALOGUE; INCREASED ASSISTANCE TO ARMENIA AND
ARTSAKH

— Bipartisan Group of Legislators Co-sign Letter to House Foreign
Aid Subcommittee

WASHINGTON, DC – With Congressional appropriators in the early
stages of crafting the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) foreign aid bill,
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) was
joined by 27 of his U.S. House colleagues in urging the inclusion
of a series of provisions aimed at strengthening U.S. ties to
Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh and bolstering the prospects for a
lasting regional peace, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).

"We want to thank Representative Pallone for his leadership and to
express our appreciation to each of his colleagues who joined in
this effort, including, of course, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Mark
Kirk, for helping to ensure that the foreign aid bill properly
reflects America’s support for Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh," said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We look forward to working
toward the adoption of the vital foreign aid priorities outlined in
this letter."

In a March 22nd letter to Foreign Operations Subcommittee
Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY), a longstanding supporter of the U.S.-
Armenia relationship, and Ranking Republican Kay Granger (R-TX),
lawmakers cited six key foreign aid priorities, including:

— Increasing U.S. assistance to Armenia to $70 million in Fiscal
Year 2011.

— Directing USAID to spend $10 million in Fiscal Year 2011 for
humanitarian and development programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

— Enhancing Section 907 restrictions on U.S. assistance to
Azerbaijan by narrowing presidential waiver authority of the
measure.

— Upholding the Committee’s long-standing tradition of maintaining
parity in military funding between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which
includes $4 million in FMF and $1 million in IMET funding for
Armenia in Fiscal Year 2011.

— Ending restrictions on travel, contacts, and the free exchange
of ideas between U.S. officials and the democratically elected
leaders of Nagorno Karabakh.

— Requesting language urging Azerbaijan to support confidence-
building measures that facilitate interaction among the parties, in
order to address regional security, resource management,
infrastructure, development and people to people programs.

Joining Rep. Pallone in cosigning the letter were Joe Baca (D-CA),
Bruce Braley (D-IA), John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Anna
Eshoo (D-CA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Elton
Gallegly (R-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Mark Kirk
(R-IL), James Langevin (D-FL), Frank Lobiondo (R-NJ), Stephen Lynch
(D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-FL), Ed Markey (D-MA), James McGovern
(D-MA), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), George
Radanovich (R-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD),
Brad Sherman (D-CA), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Tim Walz (D-MN), Henry
Waxman (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

The full text of the letter is provided below.

#####

March 22, 2010

The Honorable Nita Lowey
Chairwoman
Appropriations Subcommittee on
State-Foreign Operations
Room HB-26, The Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Kay Granger
Ranking Member
Appropriations Subcommittee on
State-Foreign Operations
1016 Longworth House Office
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger:

As you prepare the Fiscal Year 2011 State-Foreign Operations and
Related Programs Appropriations bill, we write in strong support of
U.S. assistance to Armenia and other aid related provisions that
contribute to peace and stability in the Caucasus region. We
respectfully request that you consider the following requests
listed in priority order:

Economic Assistance to Armenia

The people of Armenia continue to face the devastating impact of
Turkey and Azerbaijan’s dual blockades, illegal actions that
according to World Bank estimates from several years ago cost
Armenia roughly $720 million annually. As Armenia continues to
display commitment to ending the blockade and Turkey continues to
include preconditions that threaten the integrity of current
negotiations, the U.S. should continue its important support of
Armenia.

Until the recent world economic crisis, Armenia regularly
registered double-digit growth and has been consistently cited as
among the most free economies in the region by the Wall Street
Journal and the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.
Our assistance programs have played a vital role in promoting this
progress, as well as in the development of Armenia’s democratic
institutions, an effort that has seen substantial advancement.

We respectfully request that you include language within the
Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia Account ensuring
that not less than $70 million is appropriated for Armenia in
Fiscal Year 2011.

Assistance to Nagorno Karabakh

The U.S. assistance program to Nagorno Karabakh, has played a
critical role in meeting needs among the population. Assistance
should be directed by Congress and the Administration, to continue
work that supports both humanitarian and development priorities.
We respectfully request language directing USAID to spend $10
million in Fiscal Year 2011 for humanitarian and development
programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

Enhancing Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act

Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act continues to stand as a
powerful provision of U.S. law in principled opposition to
Azerbaijan’s blockade and other aggressive uses of force against
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

As recently as November 21, 2009, President Aliyev said that
"Azerbaijan is spending billions on buying new weapons, hardware,
[and] strengthening its position at the line of contact." To make
the threat explicit he added, "We have the full right to liberate
our land by military means." The statement came just one day before
a face to face meeting between President Aliyev and President
Sarkisian to continue ongoing peace talks. The statement is one of
many over the years by President Aliyev designed to disrupt the
ongoing OSCE peace process and which threatens regional stability.

As you know, the Fiscal Year 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations
Act created a broad waiver authority that opened the door to
military assistance to Azerbaijan. In light of Azerbaijan’s
behavior, and as a contribution to the cause of a lasting and
equitable negotiated peace, we urge you to narrow this presidential
waiver as follows:

The President may waive section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act if
he determines and certifies to the Committees on Appropriations
that to do so–

(A) the assistance is necessary to support United States efforts to
counter international terrorism, or to support the operational
readiness of United States Armed Forces or coalition partners to
counter international terrorism;

(B) the assistance will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to
negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or
be used for offensive purposes against Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh;
and

(C) in the last fiscal year, Azerbaijan has not taken hostile
action, either through military force or incitement, including but
not limited to threatening pronouncements by government officials,
toward Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh and has demonstrated its
commitment to a lasting peace with Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Assuming all conditions of this new waiver authority can be met,
and military assistance is provided to Azerbaijan, we urge you to
uphold the Committee’s long-standing tradition of maintaining
parity in funding between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Military Assistance to Armenia

The U.S.-Armenia military relationship continues to expand in scope
and depth, building upon Armenia’s cooperation in anti-terrorism
efforts and its deployment of forces to both Iraq and Kosovo.
Armenia also recently approved a military deployment to Afghanistan
in support of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
mission. Armenia has entered into a NATO Individual Partnership
Action Plan (IPAP) and has worked closely with both NATO and the
Defense Department on a range of bilateral and multilateral
agreements, joint training programs, and military exercises.
Following the Russian-Georgian conflict, Armenia was the first
country to host a NATO exercise in the South Caucasus which
included more than 1,000 servicemen from 18 nations.

Past U.S. military aid has played a vital role in modernizing
Armenia’s armed forces, strengthening the principle of civilian
control, promoting increased NATO interoperability, and supporting
the growth of Armenia’s peacekeeping capabilities.

With these priorities in mind, we respectfully request that you
include $4 million in FMF and $1 million in IMET funding for
Armenia in Fiscal Year 2011.

Removing restrictions on contacts and communication with Nagorno
Karabakh

The time has come for ending restrictions on travel, contacts, and
the free exchange of ideas between U.S. officials and the
democratically elected leaders of Nagorno Karabakh. These outdated
restrictions stand in the way of greater mutual understanding,
hinder direct oversight of U.S. assistance programs, limits
cooperation on regional priorities, such as public health and anti-
narcotics efforts, undermine our effectiveness in promoting
democracy, and ultimately place artificial limits on our diplomatic
and civil society efforts to bring about a fair and durable peace.

We respectfully request that that the following report language be
included in the bill.

"In the interest of promoting mutual understanding, regional
cooperation, and a fair and lasting peace, the Committee directs
the Department of State, to remove any official or unofficial
restrictions on U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh travel, visitations,
discussions, meetings, contacts, consultations, exchange programs,
or other governmental or civil society communication, cooperation,
or interaction.

Furthermore, in order that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict come to a
peaceful resolution through the OSCE Minsk Process it is vitally
important that representatives from Nagorno Karabakh be included in
the negotiations. Although, Nagorno Karabakh was formerly
officially included they have not since had a part in the ongoing
international negotiations aimed at determining their future. We
request that the Committee include report language that recognizes
the importance of including representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in
the ongoing Minsk Process.

Confidence Building Measures

As in years past, the Subcommittee has also provided funding for
confidence-building measures to help facilitate a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In order to
facilitate peace, we recommend that these funds continue to be made
available for increased cooperation among Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Karabakh. In particular, we respectfully request language urging
Azerbaijan to support confidence-building measures that facilitate
interaction among the parties, in order to address regional
security, resource management, infrastructure, development and
people to people programs.

Thank you for your leadership on the Appropriations Subcommittee on
State-Foreign Operations and Related Programs. We are grateful for
your role in strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and
Armenia and on all the issues we have raised. We appreciate your
consideration of these requests.

Sincerely,

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA MP – CONCESSIONS POSSIBLE IN KARABAKH AFTER STATUS DEFINED
Arman Gharibyan

2010 /03/24 | 14:17

politics

Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Naira Zohrabyan told Hetq
today that the party was fully behind President Serzh Sargsyan’s
recent statement in Syria that Armenia would be willing to make
territorial concessions in Karabakh if the people of the NKR were
afforded the right to exercise self-determination."The position
of Prosperous Armenia has always been clear. We are always open to
discuss concessions in Karabakh once the status of the NKR has been
determined, when the people of the NKR will be afforded avenues to
exercise self-determination," said the MP.

MP Zohrabyan said that this position of the PAP was not in conflict
with President Sargsyan’s position given in an interview to "Al-Watan",
a Syrian newspaper the other day.

The PAP MP said that President Sargsyan made it clear in Syria that
the underlying causes of the Karabakh conflict must be resolved and
this necessitates self-determination for the people of the NKR.

"Afterwards, MP Zohrabyan said, discussions as to concessions can
be discussed. Naturally, any resolution entails concessions on both
sides. There can be no unilateral concessions," she said

TURKEY UNWILLING TO DISCUSS ITS CRIMES, CE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

news.am
March 23 2010
Armenia

Historical controversies should not hold human rights
hostage. One-sided interpretations or distortions of historical events
have sometimes led to discrimination of minorities, xenophobia and
renewal of conflict. It is crucial to establish an honest search for
the truth" said Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner
for Human Rights, in his latest Viewpoint published on March 22.

Atrocities in the past must be recognized, documented and learned
from — but not distorted or misused for political purposes.

Gross human rights violations in the past continue to affect relations
in today’s Europe. In some cases the right lessons have been learned;
genuine knowledge of history has facilitated understanding, tolerance
and trust between individuals and peoples. However, some serious
atrocities are denied or trivialised, which has created new tensions.

There are also cases where violations in the past have been exploited
in chauvinistic propaganda, causing division and hatred. Bogus
interpretations of history have in fact been used to justify
discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.

"Coming to terms with history is always essential, but particularly
crucial in cases of massive atrocities and human rights violations.

Such crimes cannot be ignored without severe consequences. Prolonged
impunity or lack of acknowledgment over several generations tends
to create bitterness among those who identify themselves with the
victims. This, in turn, can poison relations between people who
were not even born when the events in question took place," said
the Commissioner.

He also states that "even more controversial has been — and is —
the very description of the enforced mass displacement, the ensuing
deaths as well as the outright killings of ethnic Armenians in 1915
under the Ottoman Empire. Even though this happened before the creation
of the new Turkish republic, there has been unwillingness there to
discuss these crimes. Writers and journalists who raised the issue
were brought to trial. Now, the first steps towards recognizing the
facts have at long last been taken — through academic discussions —
but more needs to be done."

What is important is an honest search for the truth and a sober,
facts-based discussion about the different versions. Only then can
the right lessons be learned, said Hammarberg.

ENHANCED FOOD SECURITY IN THE FOCUS OF ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.03.2010 15:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Enhanced food security is in the focus of the
Armenian authorities, said Gagik Minasyan, chairman of the RA NA
Standing Committee on Financial, Credit and Budgetary Affairs.

"The authorities will pay a particular attention to the preservation
and renovation of food reserves, special attention will be paid to
promoting the local agriculture. Along with the economic growth
appropriate mechanisms to stimulate local production need to be
developed," he told a news conference in Yerevan on Tuesday.

Mr. Minasyan reminded, that the state subsidizes agriculture (30 000
drams / per 1 hectare of land).

He also informed that regional security problems were discussed at
the 34th session of the Economic, Commercial, Technological and
Environmental Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of
Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) in Chisinau on March 17. "The
meeting specified the definition of the poverty limits, which in
Armenia exceeded 3 per cent, and this is a new challenge for the
Armenian government," he said.

On 25 June 1992, the Heads of State and Government of eleven countries
signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the Bosporus Statement
giving birth to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). It came into
existence as a model of multilateral political and economic initiative
aimed at fostering interaction and harmony among the Member States,
as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging
friendly and good-neighborly relations in the Black Sea region. The
BSEC Headquarters – the Permanent International Secretariat of the
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS) –
was established in March 1994 in Istanbul. With the entry into force
of its Charter on 1 May 1999, BSEC acquired international legal
identity and was transformed into a full-fledged regional economic
organization: Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. With
the accession of Serbia (then Serbia and Montenegro) in April 2004,
the Organization’s Member States increased to twelve.

NO YOU CAN’T
By Raffi K. Hovannisian

Lragir.am
22/03/10

OBAMA’S TEST AND TURKEY’S TIME

Yerevan-A couple of sentences in a non-binding resolution, passed
by the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee on March
4, softly reaffirming the genocide of the Armenian people and the
forcible dispossession of their homeland has got Turkey threatening
the world, the US administration complicitly trying to hush Congress
by blocking a vote on the floor, and many Armenians celebrating a rare
moment against the odds. The Swedish parliament’s March 11 decision
to recognize and then its prime minister’s extraterrestrial apology
to Turkey have only raised the stakes.

But there is nothing to celebrate.

The Armenian people lost more than a million souls and their ancient
patrimony in what US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire Henry Morgenthau,
a full generation before Raphael Lemkin coined "genocide," described
in 1915 as "race extermination." The US National Archives-together
with those of Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy, and even Germany,
a close Turkish ally at the time-comprise thousands of eyewitness,
diplomatic, consular, and military documents which attest to this
first genocide of modern times.

On the balance of commemorative bills and declarations, therefore,
lies the integrity of Western civilization-not the perennial Armenian
quest for recognition and redemption or even Ankara’s long-standing
policy of shameful denial.

If President Obama and Secretary Clinton want to renege on their
previous commitments and so continue their predecessors’ realpolitik
in effective mockery of the exemplary American record, it’s their
prerogative. This resolution and the annual April 24 statement offered
by the president are opportunities for THEM to set AMERICAN history
straight and to pay due tribute to the US and European ambassadors,
consuls, relief officials, servicemen, and missionaries who bore
witness and worked relentlessly but ultimately helplessly to prevent
the Armenian genocide.

Other than that, such initiatives and the standard Turkish response of
blackmail and double jeopardy serve only to trivialize the unrequited
crime against humanity which opened the twentieth century. As a
grandson of four survivors, I lose nothing more if Mr. Obama trumps
his own history and his own conscience by not calling Genocide by
its name. It is he who must decide whether "yes we can" was, like
the White House, an end unto itself.

For Washington, Ankara, and other capitals in alliance, it is high
time to uncover a few fundamental truths, whether they are self-evident
or not.

1. By the vice of genocide the Armenians were fully and finally
uprooted from their heartlands, which remain to this day under
Turkish dominion. Despite the beginnings of a civil-society movement
in Turkey to face history and seek reconciliation through truth,
the leadership of state continues to reap the fruits of genocide by
denying it, criminalizing the very use of that term, laying strategic
pipelines across its killing fields, and asserting its existing de
facto borders with Armenia despite the de jure frontier that was
demarcated by T. Woodrow Wilson’s arbitral award and issued under
presidential seal in November 1920.

2. Accordingly, Turkey has no standing to impose its preconditions
of choice-removal of genocide recognition from the international
agenda, ratification of the existing boundary as negotiated by the
Bolsheviks and Kemalists behind Armenia’s back in 1921, and the
gifting of Mountainous Karabagh to Azerbaijan-upon the establishment
of diplomatic relations with the modern-day Republic of Armenia. If
Ankara wants in good faith to turn a new page with Yerevan, then it
should do so by immediately lifting its unilateral blockade of Armenia,
exchanging notes and then ambassadors, and building confidence to
resolve the array of outstanding issues between them.

This cannot and will not happen through the signature and ratification
of condition-laden protocols with an Armenian administration that
lacks public mandate and basic democratic credentials.

3. Either the two neighboring nations move forward without the positing
of any preconditions whatsoever or, if the Turks really insist on
them, the Armenians must retrieve the symmetry of process and put
all of their positions on the table as well. These might include
remedies, available under customary or conventional international law,
of genocide acknowledgment, atonement, remembrance, and education;
a comprehensive inventory and restoration of the Armenian cultural
heritage; a guaranteed right of return for the progeny of genocide
victims and survivors; a full restitution of properties to the original
owners or their rightful heirs; a final territorial adjudication and
provision of sovereign access to the sea.

If the parties prefer and possess the requisite self-confidence, they
can entrust the whole package to the International Court of Justice.

4. Turkey has no ethical basis or maneuver room to pontificate about
"occupation" except in the context of its own dispossession of the
Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, Yezidis, Alewis, Greeks, and Cypriots.

As for the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh, whose constitutional
foundations are even firmer than Kosovo’s or Abkhazia’s, it achieved
its post-Stalinist decolonization by referendum held in compliance
with both international and controlling Soviet law and then was
forced to defend it against Azerbaijan’s Turkish-supported but
nonetheless failed war of aggression. If ever the rule of law
really exists, Mountainous Karabagh has earned its independence
and the right to be recognized-through legitimate liberation, not
Ottoman-style occupation. It appears today that the specter of military
conflagration, threatened daily from Baku and between the lines from
Ankara, could overcome the fragile cease-fire in place since 1994.

5. In all events, Germany and its postwar example of cleansing remorse,
reparation and then leadership constitute the appropriate point of
departure. The Genocide and world inaction to punish its perpetrators
begot the Holocaust. Coming full circle, Turkey and its contemporary
generation ought to consider taking the German high road before it’s
too late.

As we approach April 24 and the great American proclamation on its
95th passing, these simple points might better inform policy and give
a more meaningful ring to the words we use, the passages we recite,
and the values we hold hallow.

Raffi K. Hovannisian, Armenia’s first foreign minister, currently
represents the Heritage Party in parliament.