Author: Kalantarian Kevo

TURKISH PREMIER SAYS EUROPEAN STANCE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REFLECTS RACISM

The New York Times
April 17 2015

By CEYLAN YEGINSUAPRIL 17, 2015

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s prime minister on Friday accused Europe of showing
signs of racism after the European Parliament passed a resolution
calling on his government to recognize the mass killings of Armenians
in the collapsing Ottoman Empire as genocide.

Although Turkey vowed to disregard the resolution, government officials
have lashed out at the European Parliament, the legislature of the
European Union, accusing it of contriving obstacles to relations
with Turkey. But the remarks by the prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu,
went further.

“The European Parliament should not take decisions that would result
in hatred toward a certain religion or ethnic group if it wants to
contribute to peace,” Mr. Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara. “This
issue is now beyond the Turkish-Armenian issue. It’s a new reflection
of the racism in Europe.”

The tensions came a week before Armenians across the world plan to
commemorate the 100th anniversary of what historians recognize as
the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians say that as many
as 1.5 million Armenian Christians were systematically killed from
1915 to 1923 through mass slaughter, starvation and deportation into
the Syrian desert.

While Turkey acknowledges that atrocities took place, it refuses to
take responsibility for the deaths, claiming that a large number of
people — many of them Turks — were also killed as a result of civil
war and famine. Over the past century, all Turkish governments have
vehemently rejected the term genocide.

The debate over the characterization of the 1915 events gained momentum
after Pope Francis described them as genocide on Sunday in a Mass to
commemorate the killings. The statement caused a diplomatic uproar
from Turkey, which recalled its ambassador to the Vatican.

The European Parliament’s resolution on Wednesday calling on Turkey
to normalize relations with Armenia and recognize the genocide further
enraged the Turkish government.

In a call with Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament,
Mr. Davutoglu urged Europe to look in its own backyard by opening up
its archives on events affecting native tribes.

“If we open the books on European history, there will be questions
about what was done in Asia and Africa,” Mr. Davutoglu said. “What
happened to the original tribes there? Where are the Aborigines? Where
are the Native Americans?”

He continued: “We never had ghettos. Ghettos are a European product.

First there is ethnic discrimination, then there is genocide.”

After the European Parliament’s vote, Mr. Davutoglu’s chief adviser,
Etyen Mahcupyan, an ethnic Armenian, caused a bit of an uproar by
appearing to break with the government’s opposition to use of the
word genocide to describe what happened to the Armenian people.

“If you accept the events in Bosnia and Africa as genocide, it is
impossible to call what happened to the Armenians in 1915 something
else,” he said.

A day after his statement, the prime minister’s office announced that
Mr. Mahcupyan would be stepping down because he had reached retirement
age. But the timing led to speculation that he had been sidelined as
a result of his remarks.

“Mr. Mahcupyan’s comments were disappointing, but his retirement is
not related to them,” said an official at the prime minister’s office
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comply with government
protocol. “At this stage, with the world siding against Turkey on
this matter, it does not surprise me that people would try and link
the two.”

WHITE HOUSE SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SAYING ‘GENOCIDE’

Wall Street Journal
April 16 2015

The White House signaled Thursday that President Barack Obama won’t
use the word “genocide” to describe the killing of 1.5 million
Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Empire — continuing to break a
longstanding pledge.

As a candidate for office, Mr. Obama said he would use the word
“genocide” to describe the killings. In a strongly worded statement
in 2008, Mr. Obama said: “The Armenian Genocide is not an allegation,
a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.

He added: “As president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”

But since taking office, geopolitical concerns about the strategic
relationship with Turkey have kept the Obama administration from
fulfilling that 2008 promise. Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the Middle
East, has long opposed legislative efforts around the world to address
whether the killings were in fact genocide.

The White House has been under pressure to use the term this year —
the 100th anniversary of the killings — but a spokesman said Thursday
that there was no shift in its longstanding policy to eschew the
term genocide.

“The president and other senior administration officials have
repeatedly acknowledged as historical fact that 1.5 million Armenians
were massacred or marched to their deaths in the finals days of the
Ottoman Empire,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

“We’ve further stated that we mourn those deaths and that a full,
frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in the interest of
everybody, including Turkey, Armenia and the United States,” he added.

But Mr. Earnest said the longstanding position of the U.S. of avoiding
the term would likely remain in place when the White House puts out
a statement later this month.

“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
my view has not changed,” Mr. Obama said last year, without using term
“genocide.”

Turkey says the issue of whether the killings were genocide isn’t
for modern-day governments to decide, contests the number of deaths,
and argues those killed were casualties of a larger armed conflict.

On Sunday, Pope Francis referred to the mass killings as the “first
genocide of the 20th century,” angering Turkey.

GERMAN JEWISH LEADER CALLS FOR RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

13:06, 17 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has called on the German
government to recognize the World War I mass murder of over one
million Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire as a genocide,
the World Jewish Congress reports.

“One hundred years ago, the government of the Ottoman Empire ordered
the deportation of one million Armenians. They were murdered directly,
or died of starvation and dehydration in the desert,” Central Council
President Josef Schuster told the newspaper ‘Der Tagesspiegel.’ He
added: “These terrible events should be called what they were:
a genocide.”

Schuster said the Armenian genocide later served Adolf Hitler and
his Nazis as a blueprint for the Holocaust.

The main German parties, CDU and SPD, have so far been reluctant to
use the term genocide because they fear a conflict with Turkey.

BARACK OBAMA ‘LAME DUCK’, BUT NOT FREE TO USE WORD ‘GENOCIDE’ – AGHASI YENOKYAN

10:58 â~@¢ 17.04.15

In an interview with Tert.am, political scientist Aghasi Yenokyan
voiced doubts that US President Barack Obama, even after a week of
series of victories in international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, will use the word “genocide.”

Although Mr Obama is “lame duck president,” he needs a political
decision of his party. On the other hand, the US president will
attend a ceremony commemorating Armenian Genocide victims to be held
in Washington.

According to world mass media, Turkish FM Mevlut CavuÃ…~_oglu went to
Turkey to prevent the US president using the word “genocide.” With
respect to the possibility of the US president using the word
“genocide” in the context of the liturgy held by Pope Francis and
the European Parliament’s resolution, Mr Yenokyan said:

“I do not think it is up to the US president alone to decide. He needs
his party’s decision to use the word ‘genocide.’ I do not think that
the US has changed its position on the use of the word ‘genocide.’ Of
course, they use synonyms, but they are not the same as ‘genocide.'”

As regards analysts’ opinions about the Armenian factor’s role in
the situation surrounding Turkey and the Turkish foreign office’s
shock, Mr Yenokyan said that debates on the Armenian Genocide have
intensified this year in the context of the Armenian Genocide centenary
and relevant efforts. However, it does not concern the US.

The US president is reportedly expected to approve a US delegation
which is to attend events marking the Armenian Genocide centennial in
Armenia. US presidential runner Hillary Clinton is likely to arrive
as well as US presidential candidates normally seek Armenian voters’
favor.

“Barack Obama will not arrive in Armenia. As regards others, it is
more a speculation.”

As to the possibility of the US president’s attending a liturgy at
the Washington National Cathedral, Mr Yenokyan said:

“Some information is available on Barack Obama’s planned presence
at the commemoration ceremonies for Armenian Genocide victims in
Washington. This is a most important factor showing the United
State’s attitude.”

The Jews are said to have the best experience in having their Holocaust
internationally recognized. In the context of the past week’s
developments, Armenians can be said to be entering a higher-level
stage.

“The Pope’s remarks and recognition of the Armenian Genocide by a
number of states are new steps.”

As regards the inconsistency on the part of many states – for example,
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to visit Armenia,
while Chairman of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin is to be present
at events marking the Battle of Gallipoli – the expert said:

“It is natural they do not want to worsen their relations with Turkey.”

Mr Yenokyan does not share the opinion that the Pope’s remarks imparted
religious implications to recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
as a token of harmony between sister-churches.

“And I would like to remind you that it was Muslim and Arab states
that helped Genocide survivors. On the other hand, this is political
manipulation on the part of Turkey, which is now displaying rather
serious state and religious trends.”

A CENTURY AFTER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, TURKEY’S DENIAL ONLY DEEPENS – THE NEW YORK TIMES

13:17 * 17.04.15

By Tim Argano

The crumbling stone monastery, built into the hillside, stands as a
forlorn monument to an awful past. So, too, does the decaying church
on the other side of this mountain village. Farther out, a crevice
is sliced into the earth, so deep that peering into it, one sees only
blackness. Haunting for its history, it was there that a century ago,
an untold number of Armenians were tossed to their deaths.

“They threw them in that hole, all the men,” said Vahit Sahin, 78,
sitting at a cafe in the center of the village, reciting the stories
that have passed through generations.

Mr. Sahin turned in his chair and pointed toward the monastery. “That
side was Armenian.” He turned back. “This side was Muslim. At first,
they were really friendly with each other.”

A hundred years ago, amid the upheaval of World War I, this village
and countless others across eastern Anatolia became killing fields
as the desperate leadership of the Ottoman Empire, having lost the
Balkans and facing the prospect of losing its Arab territories as well,
saw a threat closer to home.

Worried that the Christian Armenian population was planning to align
with Russia, a primary enemy of the Ottoman Turks, officials embarked
on what historians have called the first genocide of the 20th century:
Nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed, some in massacres like the
one here, others in forced marches to the Syrian desert that left
them starved to death.

The genocide was the greatest atrocity of the Great War. It also
remains that conflict’s most bitterly contested legacy, having been
met by the Turkish authorities with 100 years of silence and denial.

For surviving Armenians and their descendants, the genocide became a
central marker of their identity, the psychic wounds passed through
generations.

“Armenians have passed one whole century, screaming to the world that
this happened,” said Gaffur Turkay, whose grandfather, as a young boy,
survived the genocide and was taken in by a Muslim family. Mr. Turkay,
in recent years, after discovering his heritage, began identifying as
an Armenian and converted to Christianity. “We want to be part of this
country with our original identities, just as we were a century ago,”
he said.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT VOTES TO CALL ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘GENOCIDE’

Deutsche Welle, Germany
April 16 2015

The European Parliament has approved a resolution “to recognize the
Armenian genocide” a century ago by Ottoman Turkish forces. Turkey
has dismissed the resolution, which commends recent comments by
Pope Francis.

The European Parliament approved a motion on Wednesday that
commemorates the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World
War I in 1915, labeling it a “genocide.”

The non-binding resolution passed by a large majority with a show
of hands.

Before the vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
would ignore the result, and that “it would go in one ear and out
the other.” Turkey is strongly opposed to qualifying the deaths as
genocide, saying that hundreds of thousands of both Turks and Christian
Armenians lost their lives in the struggle between the Ottoman forces
and the Russian Empire over eastern Anatolia during World War I.

Nonetheless, the resolution welcomed remarks by Erdogan and others
“offering condolances and recognizing atrocities against the Ottoman
Armenians.” It urges Ankara to go further and “recognize the Armenian
Genocide and thus to pave the way for a genuine reconciliation between
the Turkish and Armenian peoples.”

The resolution repeats language used in 1987, when the European
Parliament defined the killings as a “genocide.”

It comes days after the use of the term by Pope Francis sparked fury in
Ankara, with the Turkish government summoning the Vatican ambassador
in Istanbul. Wednesday’s resolution in Brussels defends the pope,
commending his weekend message.

During the debate in Brussels, conservative German MEP Elmar Brok
said there was a “moral obligation” to recognize and commemorate
such massacres.

“My own people committed genocides,” Brok said.

The German parliament is also set to discuss the issue later this
month.

ARMENIA TO FULLY EMBRACE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION’S EMERGING MARKET OF SERVICES

Belarus News (BelTA)
April 16 2015

16 April 2015 17:17 | Economy

MOSCOW, 16 April (BelTA) – Armenia intends to join all the 43 sectors
of the common services market, which is emerging in the Eurasian
Economic Union, the press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission
told BelTA.

A draft executive order of the Council of the Eurasian Economic
Commission in favor of amending the list of sectors and subsectors
of services covered by the common services market of the Eurasian
Economic Union was approved at a session of the Board of the Eurasian
Economic Commission. The amendments have been made in view of Armenia’s
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union Treaty. In accordance with
the agreement dated by 10 October 2014 Armenia will fully join the
list of sectors of services covered by the common services market of
the Eurasian Economic Union.

The list of the common market of services for Armenia covers 43 sectors
of services. The formation of the common market has been in progress
in 23 of them since 1 January 2015 for all the Eurasian Economic
Union member states. A common market for 20 sectors (civil engineering
services, engineering services, cargo processing, warehousing services)
is being formed for Armenia, Belarus, and Russia.

The amendments will contribute to the possible reduction of the
cost of services for individuals, including in Armenia, taking into
account the growing competition between economic entities of the
Eurasian Economic Union member states on the common Eurasian market
of services. Conditions for the unhindered provision of services
will be enabled as part of the operation of the common market of
services in the Eurasian Economic Union member states. As a result,
business in the sphere of services will be diversified and new kinds
of business in the member states will be created.

Commenting on the executive order, Timur Suleimenov, Member of the
Board (Minister) for Economy and Financial Policy of the Eurasian
Economic Commission, said: “As far as Armenia is concerned, we have
received very positive decisions on the country’s accession to all the
43 sectors. In other words, Armenian colleagues are ready to undertake
obligations and respectively get the same degree of rights without
exemptions and transitory periods. It has to be stipulated by decisions
of the presidents. If the presidents discuss and confirm Armenia’s
initiative on 8 May, the common market will become operational once
the executive order comes into force.”

TURKISH OFFICIAL INSULTS ARGENTINA IN RESPONSE TO POPE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE REMARKS

The Frontrunner
April 14, 2015 Tuesday

The New York Times (4/14, Mackey, Subscription Publication, 9.97M)
reports that one day after Pope Francis called the mass killing of
Armenians a century ago “the first genocide of the 20th century,”
Turkey’s minister for European affairs, Volkan Bozkir, said that
Argentina, the country where Francis hails, “welcomed the leading
executors of the Jewish Holocaust, Nazi torturers, with open arms.”

Bozkir asserted that “in Argentina, the Armenian diaspora controls
the media and business.”

LATimes Calls On Obama To Recognize Armenian Genocide.

In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times (4/14, 3.49M) writes that
Turkey’s denial of “the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians” a century
ago “compounds the original crime,” adding that the US “has been
complicit in Turkey’s defiance.” The Times urges President Obama
to recognize the Armenian “genocide,” saying that the US-Turkey
relationship “is a very important one, and one worth nurturing and
protecting, but not at the expense of denying history.”

US WILL NOT SURVIVE A NUCLEAR WAR AGAINST RUSSIA – JEAN-PAUL BAQUIAST

(c) Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev
US
14:22 17.04.2015(updated 14:38 17.04.2015) Get short URL
1545241
A nuclear strikes exchange between the United States and Russia
will lead to the complete destruction of the United States, leaving
Russia and China in a far better position, editor of the French portal
Europesolidaire Jean-Paul Baquiast said.

A potential nuclear war with Russia will have fatal consequences for
the US, whose territory would be completely destroyed in the event
of mutual rocket exchange, Jean-Paul Baquiast said.

His comment came in the wake of recent internet speculation about the
US’ possible intent to carry out a preemptive nuclear attack on Russia.

(c) AP Photo/ Phil Sandlin Russia, US Nuclear Disarmament Goes Without
‘Stagnation’ – Official The concerns have risen after General Robin
Rand was appointed as head of the US Air Force Global Strike Command.

There are assumptions that he might take an example from American
General Curtis LeMay who became famous in 1949 for preparing a plan
for a massive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union.

Unable to subdue Russia by conventional methods, Washington is
preparing to destroy it with its armed forces, Jean-Paul Baquiast
wrote. In the event of an armed conflict, American politicians may
carry out a preemptive nuclear strike.

“Chances of the United States to destroy Russia without consequences
for itself are small,” Baquiast said.

However, even the highly efficient S-500 missile system, which Russia
is currently working on, would be unable to protect the country against
a massive launch of ballistic missiles from US submarines, he noted.

In turn, Russia would launch its missiles from its submarines off
the coast of the United States. And if the Americans manage to hit
only a part of the Russian territory due to its large size, the US
will be destroyed completely, the journalist wrote.

Read more:

RA NA DEPUTY SPEAKER EDUARD SHARMAZANOV DELIVERS A SPEECH AT THE IPA CIS PLENARY SESSION

17.04.2015

On April 17 the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov took part
in the solemn plenary session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
of Member Nations of the Commonwealth Independent States (IPA CIS)
in Tavrichesky Palace of Saint Petersburg, which was dedicated to
the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The
Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, the Speaker of the RF FA Federal
Council Valentina Matvienko presided over the session.

The NA Deputy Speaker gave a speech, where he noted in particular:
“Ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic
War we mark the Armenian Genocide Centennial. At first glance the
relation of these two events is invisible and seems to be indirect,
but I should note that in 1915 one and a half million Armenian people
have fallen victims of that very Nazism and fascism. It was the
impunity of Turkey that bore Mussolini’s fascism and Hitler’s Nazism.

Its vivid example was Hitler’s announcement before the German military
commanders: “Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians?” This once again proves that the policy of Germany was
the continuation of the policy of the Young Turks’ Nazism.

The Great Patriotic War, in fact, was one more experience for our
people, experience of victory, when the Armenians, together with other
peoples, fighting against fascism and Nazism, withstood the evil,
the victim of which they became in the Ottoman Empire.”