Author: Jalatian Sonya

Frankfurter Rundschau
29.04.2005

TÜRKEI

Erdogans Regierung nähert sich Armenien an

Athen · 29. April · öhl · Der türkische Ministerpräsident Recep
Tayyip Erdogan hat angedeutet, die Beziehungen zum benachbarten
Armenien normalisieren zu wollen. Die Istanbuler Zeitung Milliyet
zitierte am Freitag Erdogan mit der Aussage, die Aufnahme politischer
Beziehungen sei möglich, wenn gleichzeitig eine gemeinsame
Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit stattfinde.

Bisher unterhalten beide Länder keine diplomatischen Beziehungen, die
Grenze ist geschlossen. Hauptgrund ist die Verfolgung von Armeniern
im Osmanischen Reich während des Ersten Weltkrieges: Armenien
bezeichnet sie als Völkermord, die Türkei bestreitet diesen. Auch der
Konflikt um die Enklave Berg-Karabach belastet die Beziehungen, weil
die Türkei auf der Seite des moslemischen Aserbaidschan steht.

Erdogan hatte vor einigen Wochen in einem Brief an den armenischen
Präsidenten Robert Kocharian die Einsetzung einer gemeinsamen
Historikerkommission vorgeschlagen. Nach Informationen aus
diplomatischen Kreisen soll Kocharian daraufhin die Türkei
aufgefordert haben, zunächst diplomatische Beziehungen aufzunehmen.

Prozess gegen Journalisten

In der südosttürkischen Stadt Sanliurfa begann am Freitag ein
Strafprozess gegen den Journalisten Hrant Dink, einen in Istanbul
lebenden Türken armenischer Abstammung. Dink ist Chefredakteur der in
türkischer und armenischer Sprache erscheinenden Zeitung Agos. Ihm
wird vorgeworfen, bei einer Konferenz über Minderheiten und
Menschenrechte in Sanliurfa im Jahr 2002 die Türkei beleidigt zu
haben. Ihm drohen drei Jahre Haft. Weil er nicht zum Prozessauftakt
erschien, wurde das Verfahren auf den 7. Juli vertagt.

Der 50-Jährige hat sich mehrfach für einen Dialog über die
Armenier-Verfolgungen ausgesprochen. Er setzt sich auch für ein
besseres Verhältnis zwischen den Türken und den rund 60 000
türkischen Staatsbürgern armenischer Abstammung ein.

Turkey says genocide campaign blocks ties with Armenia
Yerevan wants relations normalized without pre-conditions

By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, April 28, 2005

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday an
Armenian campaign to have the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
recognized internationally as genocide is an obstacle to establishing
formal relations between the two neighbors.

“Before we make a political decision [on normalizing ties], there is a
very important issue that should be resolved and this is the problems
stemming from history,” Erdogan said.

He was commenting on a letter from Armenian President Robert
Kocharian, who accepted in principal a Turkish proposal to create a
joint committee to study the genocide allegations but said that Ankara
should first normalize relations with Yerevan without pre-conditions.

Turkey demands that Armenia abandon its campaign for the recognition
of the World War I massacres as genocide before formal diplomatic
relations can be established.

In 1993, Turkey also shut its border with Armenia in a show of
solidarity with its close ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with
Armenia, dealing a heavy economic blow on the impoverished nation.

Erdogan stressed Turkey had opened its archives to all historians to
study whether the massacres constituted a genocide, and urged Yerevan
to follow suit.

“Why don’t they open their archives? It is very curious,” he said.

“Let historians and experts work in the archives. If the outcome of
these studies require us to question our history, we will do that,” he
said.

In another development, the Turkish Parliament has unilaterally called
off a series of meetings with lawmakers from the Polish Parliament
next month in protest at the latter’s acknowledgement as genocide of
the killings of Armenians during World War I, a Turkish source said
Wednesday.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc also sent a letter to his
Polish counterpart Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz on Wednesday to denounce
the resolution adopted on April 19, which condemned the Armenian
genocide.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in
deportations and orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.

Ankara argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died
when the Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia
and sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

Armenians across the world Sunday marked the 90th anniversary of the
beginning of the massacres, which have already been recognized as
genocide by a number of countries.

Ankara fears that the genocide allegations could fuel anti-Turkish
sentiment in international public opinion at a time when it is vying
for membership in the European Union.

Some EU politicians are also pressing Turkey to address the genocide
claims in what Ankara sees a politically motivated campaign to impede
its EU bid. –

Pan Armenian News

ARMENIAN FM WILL NOT MEET OSCE MG CO-CHAIR IN FRANKFURT

26.04.2005 06:35

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will not got to
Frankfurt to meet with OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, as there was no such
arrangement, stated Press Secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Hamlet
Gasparian. As of Oskanian’s possible meeting with the mediators after their
trip to Frankfurt, Gasparian noted that there is no concrete agreement on
further meetings either. It should be reminded that OSCE MG Co-Chairs will
meet with Azeri FM Elmar Mamedyarov within «the Prague process» April 27.
Mamedyarov will leave for Germany along with the OSCE MG Co-Chair, American
Ambassador Steven Mann, who is in Baku at present, reported Armenpress.

Boston Globe
April 25, 2005
Obituaries

Gayane Kanayan

Of Watertown April 21, 2005 at the age of 105. Widow of the legendary
Armenian National Hero General Dro Kanayan. Mother of Martin Kanayan and his
wife Alice and Olga Proudian. Loving grandmother to five grandchildren and
three great grandchildren. Funeral services at Saint Stephen’s Armenian
Apostolic Church, 38 Elton Avenue Watertown on Wednesday April 27 at 11 AM.
Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours at the
Aram Bedrosian Funeral Home, 558 Mount Auburn Street, WATERTOWN on Monday
and Tuesday from 7-9 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to
Saint Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church and AFUSA Inc for the General Dro
Institute in Armenia. Interment Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge.
Published in the Boston Globe from 4/24/2005 – 4/25/2005.
Guest Book – Flowers – Gift Shop – Charities

LEISURE: Kasparov still on top
By by eddie chua

April 23, 2005

GARRY Kasparov, who retired from the chess scene a month ago, is still
the world’s No. 1 player. The latest FIDE rating sees Kasparov on top
with a 2812 Elo. He is also the first player to breach the 2800
benchmark in 1990. Nine years later, he took the 2851 rating.

The next best player is Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. He is
rated at 2785.

Veselin Topalov is third with 2778 Elo, followed by Peter Leko 2763
and Vladimir Kramnik 2753. This is the second straight time Kramnik
has placedfourth in the past decade. On the local front, IM Mas
Hafizulhelmi Agus Rahman is still Malaysia’s No. 1 player with a
rating of 2413. Next is FM Mok Tze Meng on 2351.

FMs Lim Yee Weng and Wong Zi Jing are rated at 2348 and 2330
respectively.A one-time ace player, IM Jimmy Liew is fifth with 2320
while FM Nicholas Chan is sixth with 2313. Ahmad Maliki is rated at
2244.

Lim Chuing Hoong, the country’s No. 8 player, is rated at 2239 while
Leong Mun Wan scored 2237.

FM Christie Hon, once the national No. 1, is 10th with 2236.

There are 75 rated players in Malaysia. The lowest rated local player
has a benchmark of 1905. The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad.

SwissInfo
24 April 2005

Armenien: Gedenkveranstaltung im Berner Münster
(Commemoration at Bern Cathedral)

BERN – Gegen 1000 Menschen haben an einer Gedenkveranstaltung im
Berner Münster der Opfer des Völkermords an den Armeniern gedacht.
Der Bundesrat wurde aufgefordert, die Deportationen und Massaker von
1915 als Genozid anzuerkennen.

Im Gegensatz zum Nationalrat lehnt es der Bundesrat bis anhin ab, die
Ermordung Hunderttausender von Armeniern durch das osmanische Reich
als Völkermord zu bezeichnen.

“Wer den Völkermord leugnet oder relativiert, begeht nicht nur eine
Ungeheuerlichkeit gegenüber den Opfern, sondern öffnet auch Tür und
Tor für neue Völkermorde”, sagte Nationalrat Ueli Leuenberger
(Grüne/GE) an der Gedenkveranstaltung zum 90. Jahrestag des Genozids.

Deshalb müsse der Bundesrat unmissverständlich Stellung beziehen und
die “historische Wahrheit” anerkennen, forderte Leuenberger. Die
Berner Gemeinderätin Regula Rytz ergänzte: “Der Völkermord hat
stattgefunden, auch wenn er im kollektiven Gedächtnis Europas noch
nicht stark verankert ist.”

Der armenische Botschafter in der Schweiz, Zohrab Mnatsakanian, gab
seinerseits der Hoffnung Ausdruck, irgendwann einmal mit seinem
türkischen Kollegen gemeinsam der Opfer des Völkermordes gedenken zu
können. Vorher müsse die Türkei aber ihre Vergangenheit beleuchten
und die Verbrechen von 1915 eingestehen.

An der Gedenkveranstaltung im Berner Münster, die musikalisch umrahmt
wurde, nahmen neben Hunderten von Exil-Armenieren auch einige
kirchliche Würdenträger der Schweiz teil.

Die Veranstaltung bildete den Höhepunkt einer Reihe von kulturellen
Anlässen, die in verschiedenen Schweizer Städten von
Armenier-Verbänden aus Anlass des 90. Jahrestages des Beginns der
Völkermordes organisiert worden waren.

PRESIDIUM OF CONFESSION OF EUROPEAN CHURCHES: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WILL
BE NEVER FORGOTTEN

YEREVAN, APRIL 22. ARMINFO. Presidium of Confession of European
Churches (CEC) made a statement on the occasion of the 90th
anniversary of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

State Commission on organization of actions dedicated to the 90th
anniversary of Armenian Genocide informed ARMINFO that the statement
says that “Apr 24 Armenian people will commemorate the 90th
anniversary of Genocide in Ottoman Empire. Head of Federation of
Protestant Church of France Jan -Arnold de Klermon will represent the
CEC. The statement says that during a meeting with His Holiness
Garegin II Catholicos of All Armenians and Aram I Patriarch of
Cilician House in Sweden the CEC presidium noted that Armenian
Genocide will be never forgotten. Presidium called Turkey to start the
reconciliation process between Armenian and Turkish people.

CEC welcomed a statement of Turkish Prime Minister about an intention
to open Turkish archives. “It is important that both Armenian and
Turkish researchers have a full access to these documents”, the
statement says. As regards Turkey’s aspiration for the EU, CEC
presidium notes that the attitude of Turkish authorities to Armenian
people and christian minority, as well as to other ethnic minorities
living there will be the most important. CEC will watch closely the
negotiation process between Turkish government and the EU, the
statement says. -r-

Voice of America
April 23 2005

Armenians Remember the Death of Their Countrymen
By Ernest Leong
Washington D.C.

For Armenians, April 24 is a significant date. It’s when Armenians
remember the death of 1.5 million of their countrymen who they say
were systematically exterminated by the Turkish Ottoman Empire almost
a century ago. It’s a crime Turkey denies.

Hundreds gathered recently in Sacramento, capital of the U.S. state
of California, to remember their Armenian ancestors who were either
killed or died from starvation between 1915 and 1923. Armenia says
this was the intentional result of forced relocations by Turkey’s
nationalist government.

Turkey says there was no plan to wipe out Armenians, but many Western
historians and politicians believe there was.

California State Senator Jackie Speier says, “Many Armenians were
taken from their homes and were executed. Many others, um, spent
many years marching through the desert.”

Feelings and memories remain strong in the Armenian community.
Father Yeghia Hairabedian of the Armenian Orthodox Church says, “My
Great Aunt was one of them. One of my great aunts, when she was two
years old, she died on the death march, starving and begging for food.”

There are approximately 500,000 Armenian-Americans living in
California. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed
a bill officially recognizing April 24 as a commemoration day for
what some call the “Forgotten Genocide.”

Armenians claim it began on April 24, 1915, with the Turkish
government deporting and massacring the minority population of
Armenian Christians. Turkey denies this, saying any atrocities were
at the hands of rogue groups and individuals, and not sanctioned by
the government.

It’s an issue Turkey would like to put behind it. This coming October,
Turkey begins talks on possible entry to the European Union.
The problem is, some European politicians, especially in France,
agree with Armenia’s views.

Organizers in Armenia expect 1.5 million people, representing the
number they say died in the genocide, to converge on the capital,
Yerevan.

«WE CONDEMN INFRINGEMENTS OF CRIMINAL ELEMENTS»

A1plus

| 21:07:45 | 22-04-2005 | Politics |

Below we present the complete text of the statement adopted by 24
pro-governmental and oppositional parties of the Republic of Armenia
following the meeting in Yerevan hotel and consultations:

“The encroachments upon any party or a citizen of the Republic
of Armenia are aimed at all the parties and citizens, the whole
society. We are deeply concerned with the criminal manifestations
of April 20 in the town of Sevan during the meeting of the leader
and members of “New Times” party with the population of Sevan. This
indicates that infringements of the criminal elements on political
processes still continue.

We can not stay indifferent to such manifestations, improper to a
constitutional state.

We condemn the infringements of the criminal elements on political
forces and representatives of the media and expect that the relevant
authorities undertake immediate corresponding actions».

–Boundary_(ID_vwaptmoBHwywmeXmNXU8yw)–

No genocide should be forgotten
By Max Boudakian

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
April 22 2005

(April 22, 2005) – The citation in the story “Month of Misfortune”
(April 18) – “April is the cruelest month” – from T.S. Eliot’s
poem The Waste Land could be applied to another cruel event that
began April 24, 1915. On that day, nearly 250 Christian Armenian
intellectuals and cultural leaders in Constantinople (now Istanbul)
were arrested, deported or killed by the Ottoman Turks, the dominant
Muslim group in Turkey at that time. The following ensued in 1915-1923:
1.5 million Armenians perished; 500,000 survivors were exiled; and,
a 3,000-year-old Armenian presence was wiped out.

However, the world soon forgot about the Armenians. Twenty years
later, on Aug. 22, 1939, Adolph Hitler cynically remarked at
Obersalzburg: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?” That is why the Armenian genocide is often referred
to as the “forgotten genocide.” Hitler thought that he could carry
out the Jewish Holocaust with impunity.

The last Armenian genocide survivor in Rochester was my mother,
Gadarine Boudakian, who died in 2000 at age 94. Let me share
some personal experiences about her. In April 1915, the family of
Garabed Topjian, his wife, Haiganoush, and their three children (Leo,
Gadarine and Mariam) were ordered deported. However, before they left
the country, her parents died. At age 9, she buried them. She also
lost her siblings. We also know that Gadarine later paired with two
other orphan girls. To survive, they ate grass and cut their hair
to disguise their gender and avoid being raped. Gadarine’s odyssey
led her to the American orphanage and hospital in Konya, Turkey. My
mother was remarkable. She never expressed bitterness toward those
who had destroyed her family and childhood.

In a precedent-setting statement in early 2005, the U.S. ambassador
to Armenia, John Evans, referred to these atrocities as “the first
genocide of the 20th century.” The Armenian genocide, the Jewish
Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge and the “killing fields” of Cambodia,
and, the Rwandan genocide: What a waste of human life! Now in the
21st century, the Darfur region of the Sudan heads the new list of
genocides. Will this madness ever end?

Boudakian, of Pittsford, is corresponding secretary, Armenian Church
of Rochester.