Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

ADL: Stop Arizona-Holocaust analogies

By LAHAV HARKOV
29/04/2010
JPost

"There is no comparison" between the two, Foxman says.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday said that it is disturbed by
the use of analogies to Nazis and the Holocaust in reaction to the
recently-passed law in Arizona, which gives police the authority to detain
people they suspect are illegal immigrants.

The signing of the Arizona immigration law released a flood of comparisons
of the legislation to Nazi policies from elected officials, religious
leaders, editorial cartoonists and others. Many have also compared Arizona
Governor Jan Brewer to Adolf Hitler.

According to ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman: "No matter how odious,
bigoted, biased and unconstitutional Arizona’s new law may be, let’s be
clear that there is no comparison between the situation facing immigrants,
legal or illegal, in Arizona and what happened in the Holocaust. Let’s
remember that the Nazi identity cards were part and parcel of a plan to
force Jews into ghettos and for their ultimate deportation to extermination
camps."

The new immigration law in Arizona, signed last week, requires local and
state police to question people about their immigration status if there is
reason to suspect they are in the country illegally. It also makes it a
state crime to be in the US illegally. The strict new law led to outrage in
the US, with many claiming that it will lead to racial profiling, and
demands for a comprehensive immigration bill to be passed in Congress have
been renewed.

"We are seeing these offensive and inappropriate Nazi and Holocaust
comparisons come to the fore in the public debate once again," Foxman
continued. "We saw it in the health care debate, and now we are seeing it
with Arizona. It is disturbing that in speaking out against the bill a
number of individuals have taken to…describing the legislation as being
reminiscent of Nazi policies that required Jews and others to carry identity
cards, or in comparing the governor and other Arizona officials as being
like Hitler."

Some high-profile examples of comparisons to the Nazis in recent days
include Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, who said the legislation was "reminiscent
of second-class status of Jews in Germany prior to World War II, when they
had to have their papers with them at all times and were subject to routine
inspections."

In New Jersey, an editorial cartoon in the Bergen Record portrayed Hitler
with his infamous moustache rendered in the shape of the state of Arizona.

Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahony wrote on his blog: "I can’t imagine
Arizonans now reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques
whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any
suspicion of documentation."

"Comparisons to the Nazis may be politically expedient and serve an agenda
of demonizing those who supported the bill, but in the end they do great
damage to the memory of six million Jews and the millions of others and
soldiers who fought to defeat Nazism," Foxman said.

NUMBER OF ORANGE INTERNET CUSTOMERS HITS 25,000

Panorama.am
14:43 29/04/2010

Economy

Today the number of Orange Internet customers reached 25,000. The
25,000th customer was Arpine Avetisyan, 3rd year student at Yerevan
State Economic University. She purchased her Internet Now subscription
at the Orange Flagship store today, Orange Armenia press office
reported.

The company welcomes the 25,000th customer in the Orange family and
has prepared an unprecedent surprise for her. Bruno Duthoit, CEO of
Orange Armenia, has invited her to the flagship store Friday to get
the very special gift.

WE WANT US SINCERITY TOWARD AZERBAIJAN – STRATEGIC RESEARCH CENTER’S HEAD

news.az
April 29 2010
Azerbaijan

Elkhan Nuriyev The director of the Strategic Research Center has
presented Azerbaijan’s position on the issues of the region in
Chatham House.

Turkishny reports that director of the Strategic Research Center Elkhan
Nuriyev spoke on the modern geopolitics of Azerbaijan during a round
table on April 28 at the Royal Institute of International Relations
(Chatham House). He said the peculiarity of factors posing threat
to security and stability in the region lies with the absence of a
peace solution to the Karabakh conflict.

Nuriyev said that this conflict is a serious threat not only for the
countries of the region but also the international community.

"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs should spare no effort to settle this
problem", he said.

Answering the issue of the participants about the Turkish-Armenian
relations, Nuriyev noted that Armenia’s conduct on this issue was
not surprising to him.

"The Armenian side has already been used to violating all its
international commitments and the statement of Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan about the suspension of the process between Turkey
and Armenia is a bright evidence. It was initially clear that Yerevan
will never reject the process of ‘genocide’ recognition", he noted.

He also noted that Azerbaijan is sure that Turkey will not change
its position on the Karabakh conflict.

As for Iran’s proposal on mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
Nuriyev said Baku has accepted this proposal but it still has to
consider it. However, Tehran has just stated it and has not yet taken
practical steps.

Voicing his attitude to differences between the United States and
Azerbaijan, Nuriyev said:

"We want the United States to be sincere toward Azerbaijan and want
them not to build the dialogue via the third countries. We want
pragmatic and partner relations with the West, our expectation from
Obama’s administration is like this".

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN. UNE STILE A BEUZEC-CAP-SIZUN
Stephane

armenews
30 avril 2010

Hier, l’association des Armeniens du Grand-ouest, Menez-Ararat, a
commemore le genocide perpetre par l’Empire Ottoman, par une stèle
a Beuzec-Cap-Sizun, a l’Espace de la Paix.

Il y a 95 ans, le 24avril 1915, l’Empire Ottoman entamait le
genocide du peuple armenien qui fit, jusqu’en 1917, 1.500.000morts
(Le Telegramme du 22avril). Cette date est desormais, pour toute la
diaspora armenienne, le symbole du souvenir. Hier, c’est a Beuzec,
a l’Espace de la Paix, que l’association des Armeniens du Grand-ouest,
" Menez-Ararat " a celebre cette emouvante commemoration.

Une centaine de personnes

Près d’une centaine de personnes assistaient a cette ceremonie,
pendant laquelle fut apposee une plaque commemorative " a la memoire de
tous les genocides " sur cette stèle de paix " dediee aux souvenirs
des atrocites des differents conflits ", selon la volonte de la
municipalite. " Afin de tirer les lecons des erreurs passees et
d’aller vers un monde de tolerance ", souhaite le maire, Jean Pichon.

Un vaste mouvement de soutien

La deputee, Annick Le Loch, la conseillère generale, Jacqueline
Donval et plusieurs elus capistes etaient presents aux côtes des
Armeniens de Bretagne. Les anciens combattants du Cap-Sizun aussi,
dont les drapeaux flottaient, tout comme ceux de l’Armenie, de la
Bretagne et de l’Europe. Presents egalement, les fils du Douarneniste
Eugène Kernaleguen, qui a participe alors a l’operation menee par
la flotte francaise et quatre de ses bâtiments, pour sauver 4.100
civils armeniens.

La reconnaissance du genocide

Le president de Menez-Ararat, Georges Bossière, a rappele ce " crime
de lèse humanite " que la Turquie et quelques autres pays, dont
les Etats-Unis, n’ont toujours pas reconnu. Pour lui, " la Turquie,
qui frappe aujourd’hui a la porte de l’Europe, se doit d’assumer son
passe ". Un sentiment partage par la deputee devant cette attitude
" politico-diplomatique ". Et de rappeler que la reconnaissance du
genocide par la France, en 2001, n’avait abouti qu’au bout de trois
ans de reflexions menees par le Parlement. " Mais les choses sont
en train de bouger ". Ainsi que l’a prouve, samedi, en plein centre
d’Istanbul, pour la première fois, la commemoration du genocide par
des Turcs. C’est par d’emouvants chants armeniens que s’est achevee
cette ceremonie celebree par les " deux frères amis ", l’Armenie et
la Bretagne.

le telegramme

Genocide armenien. Une stèle a Beuzec-Cap-Sizun. De gauche a droite, la
deputee Annick Le Loch, la conseillère generale Jacqueline Donval, le
president de Menez-Ararat, Georges Bossière et le maire, Jean Pichon.

CONSULTATIONS ON PACE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH UNDER WAY

news.am
April 28 2010
Armenia

"Consultations are being held on the issue of forming a PACE
subcommittee on Nagorno-Karabakh. The process is going on. As regards
the committee chairman, we will deal with the issue later, after we
have arrived at an agreement on further cooperation," Head of the RA
delegation to PACE David Harutyunyan told NEWS.am, commenting on PACE
President Mevlut CavuÅ~_oglu’s statement on his intention to chair
the subcommittee.

Harutyunyan pointed out the speeches made by Micheline Calmy-Rey,
Federal Councillor and Head of the Swiss Federal Department of
Foreign Affairs, and by the PACE Secretary General, who both were
unanimous over the fact that the reconciliation process is going on
within the OSCE Minsk Group. "We must not replace this process with
any simultaneous process, and PACE must be most cautious so as not
to create any impression of a simultaneous process, Harutyunyan said.

Commenting of a statement issued by 20 PACE members, who declared
against parliamentary elections in Nagorno-Karabakh, he said: "The
declaration has to do only with the PACE members that made it.

Elections in Nagorno-Karabakh are a democratic procedure. The
Nagorno-Karabakh people is exercising its democratic right."

AGBU Europe
131, Rue Stassart,
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 27 62 67 97
Fax: +32 25 02 62 30

Contact: Anush Nazaryan
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +32 2 762 67 07
Web:

EU News from AGBU Europe

Also in this newsletter:

1.’Security for All’: European Parliament to Vote on EU Policy for South
Caucasus

2.European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Visits
Armenia

3.AGBU Summer 2010 Internship Programs in Moscow and Yerevan

4.AGBU Europe ‘Pro democratia’ Youth Seminar

[1]Is Turkey’s History European Too?

An article in the European Voice by AGBU Europe board member Nicolas Tavitian

On April 22, an article on EU policy towards the Armenian Genocide was printed
in the European Voice magazine. The article coincides with the 95th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide and makes a case for a change in policy regarding the
EU’s treatment of the issue. To read the article please [2]click here.

EU’s Special Representative for South Caucasus to Speak in Paris at AGBU Europe

The European Union plays an increasing role in the Caucasus and in its
neighborhood. Is the EU able to contribute to the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict and security in the region?

AGBU Europe has invited Peter Semneby, the special representative of the EU
to the South Caucasus to the Alex Manoogian Cultural Center in Paris. The
conference, entitled `The European Union and the Resolution of Karabagh
Conflict’ will take place at 6pm, on 18 May, 2010.

Peter Semneby will answer questions from two journalists: Ara Toranian
(Nouvelles d’Arménie Magazine) and Gaidz Minassian (Le Monde) regarding the the
EU’s role and perspectives for the resolution of the Nagorno Karbagh conflict.

The new issue of `Revue Arménienne des Questions Contemporaines`, dedicated to
the Karabakh conflict will be launched at the conference.

Entrance to the conference is free but registration at the following address
is obligatory: [3][email protected].

Alex Manoogian Cultural Center of AGBU: 118, rue de Courcelles, 75017 Paris.

‘Security for all’ : European Parliament to Vote on EU Policy in South Caucasus

On April 7, 2010 the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted
(with only one vote against and one abstention) a report on `an EU strategy for
the South Caucasus’. The report – proposed by rapporteur Yevgeni Kirilov, MEP,
a member of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament – was substantially
reworked by the committee, with amendments considered and adopted in respect of
most paragraphs, including those concerning the resolution of the Nagorno
Karabakh frozen conflict. The amended resolution will be put to the European
Parliament for a final vote on May 17.

Stepanakert, Nagorno Karabakh

The draft resolution had been criticised for not going far enough to promote
conflict resolution and cooperation in respect of the Karabakh conflict.

The resolution has in particular been amended by MEPs to acknowledge that
interim status for Karabakh could advance peaceful coexistence in the region
and to call on the European Council to explore an EU presence on the ground in
Karabakh, recognising the importance of adequate peace-keeping arrangements and
stressing that security for all is an indispensible element of any settlement.

The resolution also encourages the EU to begin providing aid and information to
Karabakh as in Abkhazia and Ossetia. It welcomes the Armenia-Turkey
rapprochement whilst stressing that the relations between those two
countries and the Karabakh settlement are two separate processes.
In reference to all conflicts in the region, the resolution recognises regional
cooperation as a necessary condition for confidence building and calls on all
parties to fully engage in the multilateral cooperation track of the Eastern
Partnership without linking it to the final solution of the conflicts.

AGBU Europe campaigned for MEPs to support confidence-building measures between
the societies involved, to establish a line of communication with the civil
society of Nagorno Karabakh and to initiate humanitarian assistance in Karabakh
in order to help alleviate poverty and social problems in that small territory.

For further information:
– [4]Draft Report ‘An EU Strategy for the South Caucasus’
[5]- AGBU Europe Campaign for Nagorno Karabakh Homepage

Support AGBU Europe’s campaign for Nagorno Karabakh

Children playing in Stepanakert square, Nagorno Karabakh

– Show your support for AGBU Europe’s campaign for EU aid to Karabakh: [6]join
us on facebook
– You can also contact your member of the European Parliament or support the
campaign financially. Please contact the[7] EU office for further information.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Visits
Armenia

In April, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy,
Mr Stefan Füle visited the three countries of the South Caucasus. Mr Füle is a
newly appointed Commissioner and this was his first visit to the South Caucasus
region.

On April 6, Mr Füle visited Armenia. The visit of the EU commissioner was a
good opportunity for Armenia to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between
the two partners. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia stated in his
speech `cooperation with the European Union is one of the priorities of
Armenia’s foreign policy agenda’.

Mr Füle welcomed the protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey, encouraging
the two countries to progress with the normalisation process efforts without
any preconditions. In reference to Turkey’s proposed accession to the EU, Mr
Füle said that ‘Good relations with neighbours are very important in the
framework of any country’s entry to the European Union’.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia stated that the European Union is a
reliable political and economic partner for Armenia and that the country
attached special importance to the signing of a free trade agreement,
relaxation of visa requirements and the launch of negotiations on association
agreements. Negotiations on these questions are expected to begin this year.

For his part, Mr Fule, during the human rights forum in Yerevan, mentioned that
respect for human rights, democratic values and the rule of law is and will
remain the crucial element for stability within the European Union and its
neighbourhood. ‘Respect for these principles is an increasingly decisive factor
for determining the level of interaction between the EU and its partner
countries’, said the comissioner.

For further information:
[8]- Commissioner ?tefan Füle on official visit to South Caucasus

[9]An Interview with the president of AGBU Europe

On April 16, 2010, CRIF, France’s foremost Jewish organisation, interviewed
AGBU Europe president Alexis Govciyan. In the interview Mr Govciyan provides an
overview of the AGBU’s work and philosophy and evokes a ‘community of Destiny’
between Armenians and Jews. To read the interview please [10]click here.

AGBU Summer 2010 Internship Programs in Moscow and Yerevan

AGBU is still accepting applications for its 2010 Summer Intern Programs in
Moscow (MSIP) and Yerevan (YSIP). Each program couples professional internship
positions with a variety of educational and cultural activities to provide
students of Armenian descent from around the world with invaluable work
experience and a memorable summer creating life-long bonds with fellow
students.
Moscow

June 26 – July 31

– Largest Armenian diaspora community in the world
– Global hub of trade, commerce, diplomacy and innovation
– Placements in English-language work environments
– Local cultural excursions
– Weekend trip to St. Petersburg exploring Russia´s second city

Yerevan

June 25 – August 6

– Connect with cultural heritage and interact with local peers
– Placements at leading institutions and organisations
– NGO, banking, legal, medical and governmental opportunities
– Educational and cultural events
– Visits to historical monuments throughout Armenia
– Weekend trip to Karabakh

For applications and more information on the Moscow program, please visit,
agbu.org/msip, or email, [11][email protected].

For applications and more information on the Yerevan program, please visit,
agbu.org/ysip, or email, [12][email protected].

AGBU Europe "Pro Democratia" Youth Seminar

AGBU Europe "Pro Democratia – Youth Seminar for Democracy and Civil Society
Reinforcement" will take place in Yerevan from 20-24 May 2010. The 4 day
seminar is funded with the support of the European Commission and will tackle
the themes of Democracy and Civil Society.

Participants will meet Armenian decision makers as well as EU representatives
(EU Delegation in Armenia, Council of Europe in Armenia), work on European
projects encouraging young people’s active participation in society and visit
Yerevan’s main cultural sites.

This event is part of the Goriz programme, an ongoing AGBU Europe initiative to
promote leadership among young Armenians throughout Europe and to help young
leaders develop successful initiatives of community interest.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the
Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the
information contained therein.
For more information please visit: Goriz
webpage: [13]

AGBU Europe is the European branch of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU). Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organizatioand serves some 400 000 Armenians worldwide.
You can visit AGBU Europe’s website at:
[14]

As an independent, non governmental organization AGBU Europe is dependent on
the involvement of all those who share its purpose and objectives. Help,
donations and feedback are always welcome. Please contact :

Anush Nazaryan

131, rue de Stassart,
Brussels, Belgium
[15][email protected]
Tel: :+32 27 62 67 97

131, rue Stassart, 1050, Brussels, Belgium. T: + 32 27 62 67 97, F: + 32 25 02
62 30, E: [email protected], W: agbueurope.org

References

1. nians/is-turkish-history-european-too/view
2. nians/is-turkish-history-european-too/view
3. mailto:[email protected]
4. ef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+PE-430.955+01+DOC+PDF+V0 //EN&language=EN
5.
6.
7. mailto:[email protected]
8. lines/news/2010/04/2010406_2_en.htm
9. y/detail&aid=19803&artyd=11
10. y/detail&aid=19803&artyd=11
11. mailto:[email protected]
12. mailto:[email protected]
13.
14.
15. mailto:[email protected]
This message was sent by: Anush Nazaryan, 131, Stassart street, Brussels, Brussels 1050, Belgium

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G. MINASYAN SAYS THE SITUATION CREATED IN TURKEY WILL RESULT IN RECONCILIATION OF THE SOCIETY WITH THEIR PAST

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 27, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 27, ARMENPRESS: In undertaking the regulation process
of Armenian-Turkish relations, the target of Armenia was establishment
of diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions and opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee
on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs, member of the executive
body of the Armenian Republican Party Gagik Minasyan said today at
a meeting with journalists.

"No case has been registered over this year, when our behavior is
criticized by international big political centers. The latter have
always stood up for our position," G. Minasyan pointed out. According
to him, we cannot say the same about Turkey, which tried to put
forward preconditions and deserved the criticism of the international
community.

"We won a status of a subject of initiative policy, which dictates
political processes and pursues their successful finish. We also
acquired a reputation of a trustworthy partner, which will have an
essential significance in regard to our political developments. We
also won a thing, which we could not reach without starting this
process; hot discussions on the genocide run today just in Turkey,"
the parliament member stressed.

According to him, the rally of the Turks organized on April 24 in
Istanbul, the speech of the Turkish parliament member with the demand
of recognizing the Armenian genocide show that a process has started
in Turkey which sooner or later will result in reconciliation of
wider circles of society with their past. "This is our main goal;
we want the whole world to recognize the Armenian Genocide and then
at the end we want it by Turkey," G. Minasyan said.

Referring to the regulation prospects of the Armenian-Turkish
relations, he noted that Armenia does not take back the signatures,
and only suspends the ratification process. "We think there will be
authorities in Turkey which will be ready to bring the process to an
end without preconditions. If there are not such authorities we will
maintain our status, and in this case there will be no opportunity
of speculation for Turkey," G. Minasyan stressed.

According to him, actually there were 4 variants – the recall of the
signatures, the ratification of the protocols, the suspension and
the doing nothing. "The most logical step was the suspension of the
process," the speaker said.

ANKARA, BAKU REACH GAS DEAL

Panorama.am
13:02 27/04/2010

Politics

Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yildiz told
reporters in Mejlis that Ankara has reached a principal agreement with
Baku over "Azeri Gas". According to Anka, Turkish Minister said some
issues over exporting Azerbaijan’s gas to the West through Turkey’s
territory had remained unsolved and these have been settled. Yildiz
and SOCARGAZ President, Azerbaijani deputy Revnag Abdullayev met with
Turkish PM Erdogan and reached agreement over the issue.

New York Times
April 24 2010

Obama Marks Genocide Without Saying the Word

By PETER BAKER
Published: April 24, 2010

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ‘ President Obama, who as a candidate vowed to use the
term genocide to describe the Ottoman slaughter of 1.5 million
Armenians nearly a century ago, once again declined to do so on
Saturday as he marked the anniversary of the start of the killings.

Trying to navigate one of the more emotionally fraught foreign policy
challenges, Mr. Obama issued a statement from his weekend getaway here
commemorating the victims of the mass killings but tried to avoid
alienating Turkey, a NATO ally, which adamantly rejects the genocide
label.

`On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that 95 years
ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began,’ Mr. Obama
said in the statement, which largely echoed the same language he used
on this date a year ago. `In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million
Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days
of the Ottoman Empire.’

When he was running for president and seeking votes from some of the
1.5 million Armenian Americans, Mr. Obama had no qualms about using
the term genocide and criticized the Bush administration for firing an
ambassador who dared to say the word. As a senator, he supported
legislation calling the killings genocide.

`As president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide,’ he said in a
statement on Jan. 19, 2008, that used the word 10 more times. He said
that `the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion,
or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact.’ He added,
`An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical
facts is an untenable policy.’

Two years later, as president, he used none of that sort of language,
though as he did a year ago, he hinted to Armenians that he still felt
the same way. `I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred
in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed,’ he said. `It is
in all of our interest to see the achievement a full, frank and just
acknowledgment of the facts.’

The issue has been a point of contention in Congress as well. In
March, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted narrowly to condemn
the mass killings as an act of genocide, defying a last-minute plea
from the Obama administration to forgo a vote that threatened to
jeopardize the United States-backed efforts toward Turkish-Armenian
reconciliation.

Turkey, which acknowledges the killings but denies that they were a
planned genocide, briefly recalled its ambassador from Washington in
protest.

On Saturday, the Armenian National Committee of America, an advocacy
group based in Washington, condemned the `euphemisms and evasive
terminology’ and called Mr. Obama’s statement `yet another disgraceful
capitulation to Turkey’s threats.’

`Today we join with Armenians in the United States and around the
world in voicing our sharp disappointment with the President’s failure
to properly condemn and commemorate the Armenian genocide,’ said Ken
Hachikian, the committee’s chairman. He added that Mr. Obama’s failure
to following through on his campaign pledge was `allowing Turkey to
tighten its gag-rule on American genocide policy.’

Although the president’s statement did not use the term `genocide’ it
was strong enough to provoke a sharp statement from the Turkish
Foreign Ministry, which called the language a reflection of a
one-sided political perception.

The Obama statement comes as the reconciliation between Armenia and
Turkey has become deadlocked. Armenia announced Thursday that it would
suspend ratification of peace accords with Turkey, apparently because
it was angered that Turkey was making new demands.

Analysts indicated Armenia believed that Turkey was trying to put
pressure on Armenia to reach a separate peace treaty with another
neighbor, Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.

Clifford J. Levy contributed reporting from Moscow, and Sebnem Arsu
from Izmir, Turkey.

IS YEAR-OLD ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROCESS OVER?
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 23, 2010

Reaction of the international community to Serzh Sargsyan’s address was
predictable. Both the United States and Europe are fed up with Turkish
blackmail and her inability to adequately behave in serious matters.

Armenian-Turkish process that started exactly a year ago is now over,
or in the words of the Armenian President – suspended. However,
what really matters is the essence and not the definitions given
to this process. In the current reality it is too early to speak of
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, and there are several
reasons for it. Let us leave aside the question of Turkish recognition
of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, as it is, so to speak,
a permanent stumbling block between the two countries.

More and more serious become geopolitical changes in the region
and the internal political processes going on both in Turkey and in
Armenia. In this respect, the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) is in a much inferior position than the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA). By and large, the Republican Party of Armenia is fairly
strong, and yet there is no single political force in the country
that could replace it. For Yerevan such state of affairs is the best,
because whoever comes to power, Armenia’s attitude towards Turkey will
remain unchanged. Under the first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan there
were made attempts to nullify both the issue of recognition of the
Armenian Genocide and perception of Turkey as an enemy or a malevolent
neighbor, which constantly poses a threat to our national security.

But fortunately, Levon Ter-Petrosyan was not able, or rather, was
not allowed to put his plan into operation.

As for the position of AKP, Prime Minister Erdogan is undoubtedly
losing popularity, and under such circumstances improving relations
with Armenia could be fatal for him. Turkish opposition, discontented
with the Premier’s foreign and domestic policies, could easily
overthrow the unwanted Premier, by receiving assistance from the army.

Coups in Turkey are not a novelty, and not once have we written
about that.

Response of the international community to Serzh Sargsyan’s address
was predictable. Both the United States and Europe are fed up with
Turkish blackmail and her inability to behave adequately in serious
matters. It wouldn’t be a great surprise if Erdogan was reminded all
his recent statements, starting from empty threats issued to Israel and
the Armenian illegal immigrants and ending with the outright support
of Iran. It is especially the last point that is unacceptable for
the world community. Unacceptable are also the attempts to drive a
wedge between Armenia and the Diaspora. A few days before the recent
statement of Serzh Sargsyan, the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a
circular note to all the embassies, in which it explained how Turkish
officials and diplomats worldwide should react to the Armenian Diaspora
and Genocide-related issues. Here are some of the suggestions that
Turkish Foreign Ministry offered: "Contact and maintain ties with
representatives of the Armenian lobby in your country of residence;
invite them to your events, visit their events and try to explain
Turkey’s position; in the country of residence also contact Armenian
diplomats and invite them to your events; establish contacts with
the NGOs of your countries of residence and try to explain the 1915
events; concentrate on the protocols signed with Armenia and remind the
point of establishing a historical commission to study the genocide;
highlight that the Armenian-Turkish normalization will contribute
to the establishment of peace in the Caucasus; speak of the need
to settle the Karabakh conflict in order to establish peace in the
region. However, most "striking" was Item 3: "Representatives of the
Armenian Diaspora are divided into three groups. The first group have
done business on the issue of the Genocide; the second group includes
people who come from Turkey and still have ties with this country and
the third group is that category of people who are hostile towards
Turkey. Contact the representatives of all these groups and invite
them to visit Turkey."

And all this is said and written shortly before the 95th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide. However, there is one more aspect of Turkish
counter-propaganda which is somehow warmly received by the Armenian
side. These are the actions like "Armenians, we apologize", Turkish
visits to the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide victims. All this is
done in order to make the Armenians believe that Turkey is not such
an awful country and simply wants "zero" relations with neighbors. We
deliberately do not mention the Karabakh conflict, as it is discussed
in quite a different place, and from quite a different view.

If we are to sum up, it can be noted that Armenia, strange as it may
seem, has won another round, which can be considered a preliminary
finish. If Turkey anyway agrees to continue the process, it is to prove
that pressure from the United States has worked. If not… well, what
can’t be cured must be endured. Throughout this story the position
of Russia has remained obscure – Armenian side received no distinct
comments from the RF Foreign Ministry, which suggests that Russian
diplomacy has remained in 1915 when a whole people was wiped out
because of her connivance and tacit consent. However, we would like
to believe that times have changed.