Author: Karabekian Emil

SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT SET FOR OFFICIAL VISIT TO LITHUANIA ON WED.

RIA Novosti
March 10, 2010
Vilnius

President of Slovenia Danilo Turk arrives on Wednesday with an official
visit to Lithuania to discuss energy security and issues of bilateral
cooperation, a spokesman for the Lithuanian president said.

President Turk is expected to discuss with his Lithuanian counterpart
Dalia Grybauskaite relations with neighboring states and the Eastern
Partnership Program.

The Eastern Partnership program, adopted by 27 EU countries in 2008,
includes Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova and Georgia
and aims to bring these countries in line with EU standards without
formal admission to the EU.

On March 11, the Slovenian president will attend festivities dedicated
to 20th anniversary of Lithuanian independence.

M. GORBACHEV: NOW IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE KARABAKH AS PART OF AZERBAIJAN

Panorama.am
15:11 06/03/2010

Politics

"I suggested granting Karabakh a status of a republic. Azerbaijan’s
former authorities – Vezirov – seemed to be inclined to agree, but
later he didn’t. The problem might have been possible to solve then,
but now it’s impossible to see Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan,"
the USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev told reporters in Moscow.

He highlighted the bellicose statements and urged not to allow a new
war in Karabakh: talks should be held.

"There is no other way out. War should be excluded, otherwise big
powers will be involved in it, too," Gorbachev said.

He stressed the conflicts like Karabakh have no winners generally,
agreement should have been reached and still "in late 80ies we could
have somehow settled Karabakh issue."

Gorbachev recalled the grave condition Karabakh was in in 1980ies,
though, the authorities paid no attention to it, even the communication
with Yerevan was impossible due to the lack of economic means.

"To, me Karabakh should have been supported and grated a status. It
should have been supported economically so that contact with Yerevan
could be established," M. Gorbachev said.

BY ANY MEANS: THE LATIMES AND KURDISH COVERAGE
By Garen Yegparian

urdish-coverage/
Mar 8th, 2010

In this third of what started as a three part series on LATimes
coverage of interest to Armenians, I’ll address some Kurdish-topic
patterns I noticed over the past two-plus years.

Arguably, the Kurds have fared best among the peoples of Armenia’s
neighbors. Certainly, they had more coverage, at least in terms
of number of pieces, than anyone else, other than possibly Iran
(I have not tracked the latter). But, those pieces overwhelmingly
involved conflict. Whether it was Turkey attacking the PKK, the PKK
responding, the ramifications of these in Iraq and southern Kurdistan,
or the political growth pains of the federal structure in Iraq as it
impacts the Kurds- coverage stemmed from blood or fierce politics.

Even those stories not directly involving Iraq-Kurd and Turkey-PKK
issues were conflictual, e.g. Kurdish protests or persecution in
Turkey, Kurds denying responsibility for a bombing, and murders
attributed to a "tribal vendetta" in Kurd-inhabited parts of Turkey.

Plus, the one editorial regarding Turkish-PKK interactions favored
Turkey. There is no coverage of Turkey’s abuses of Kurds’ human
rights, no "picture" of daily life in Turkish occupied Armenia and
Kurdistan. There is the occasional piece about or reference to (in
coverage not specifically about the Kurds) "look at the progress in
northern Iraq". Basically, the paper seems to be toeing the State
Department’s line. No one would call the LATimes pro-Kurdish.

These establishment-based and "if it bleeds it leads" biases do a
disservice to readers. For Armenians, it is, I suppose better than
nothing that some trickle of information about our "cousins" intrudes
upon our awareness to supplement what the Armenian media provides.

But this pathetic coverage of the largest stateless nation on the
planet leads to perpetual uninformedness of Kurdish reality among U.S.

citizens (as I have no doubt other major newspapers are similarly
deficient), in turn leading to less than optimal Kurdish policy in
the State Department.

The Kurdish Question, like the Armenian, is key to peace in the Middle
East. Palestine-Israel may be the hottest issue, but its resolution
will not usher in the hoped for peace in the area. If anything, with
that gone, the opportunities for mischief through the abuse of Kurds’
and Armenians’ fundamental rights and manipulation by some powers of
their liberation movements, will expand.

It behooves us, as we develop and implement a media strategy, to
include the Kurdish perspective on our shared homeland.

TO HELL WITH THE ROSES!
By Khatchig Mouradian

8/to-hell-with-the-roses/
March 8, 2009

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Armenian Weekly
webteam features the opinion piece below, published in the Weekly
on March 3, 2007. Over the past two years, the article, written by
Weekly editor Khatchig Mouradian, has been widely circulated and has
generated much-needed discussion. We welcome your comments.

On March 8, women in Armenia will be expecting roses, gifts and other
expressions of love from their husbands, fiances or boyfriends. It
is International Women’s Day (IWD), after all. It is the day they
will feel celebrated.

But like every year, that atmosphere of celebration will conveniently
ignore the political message of IWD. In many cases, the roses will
read "I am your caretaker," and "I am (or will be, or want to be)
the head of our home." Rarely will they say "You and I are equals"
or "Armenian women have been the pillars of Armenian society in the
best of times and in the worst of times."

Few men will remind the woman they give the roses to about the
Armenian women who bore the torch of the feminist movement in the
Ottoman Empire. Very few will remember the women who fought alongside
the men when Turkish regulars and irregulars attacked their villages.

Many will continue believing that while Srpouhi Dusaps and Sose
Mayrigs are heroes, "our women" should not resemble them.

"Our women" ought to be obedient (hnazant), and us men shall remain
the head and the master (der).

Few will remember that after the Yeghern of 1915, when most of the
able-bodied Armenian boys and men were killed, it was the Armenian
women who took up the survival of an entire nation on their shoulders.

And on their shoulders this nation-with its two wings-still rests
today.

>>From our mothers to our teachers, to our partners in the workplace
and our partners at home, Armenian women continue to carry this
nation on their shoulders, while we, the men, stay busy showcasing
our muscles.

Not only should we acknowledge and treat them as equals, but we must
thank them for conceding to be equals with us.

This is not a message of feminism as much as it is a message that we
will grasp when we, as Armenians, look behind us and around us.

The Armenian Weekly March 3, 2007

Cambodia News
March 6 2010

White House to block vote on Turkey genocide

The Cambodia News.Net
Saturday 6th March, 2010

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said that the Obama
administration will `work very hard’ to prevent a congressional bill
being passed, which describes the World War One killing of Armenians
by Turkey as genocide.

On Thursday, a congressional panel approved the resolution, making way
for a vote by the House.

The White House does not want this, however, as Turkey is a strong
ally of the US in their involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the
country is an essential part in the route of oil from the Middle East
to western markets.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that if such a bill
were passed it would certainly damage US-Turkey relations.

The resolution – approved by 23 votes to 22 by the committee – calls
on President Barack Obama to ensure US foreign policy reflects an
understanding of the "genocide" and to label the killings of Armenians
as such.

The same committee tried to pass a similar bill two years ago, but
this was also blocked by then-president George W. Bush.

During his 2008 campaign Obama had said he would declare the killings
of Armenians a genocide, and while Mrs. Clinton acknowledged the
change in position, she insisted that circumstances had `changed in
very significant ways’.

The Prime Minister of Turkey admitted that atrocities were committed,
but maintains that it was part of the effects of war, and holds that
no systematic effort was made to kill Christian Armenians.

09024

The Hill, DC
March 6 2010

Turkey’s leader: How many on Foreign Affairs panel could find Armenia?

By Bridget Johnson – 03/06/10 11:58 AM ET
Turkey’s prime minister said Saturday that the genocide resolution
passed by the House this week could harm bilateral relations.

"Is evaluating history the business of politicians? How many in that
room could point out where Armenia is?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a
speech to the a Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of
Turkey, according to Hurriyet Daily News. "So who won? Did the U.S.
win? Did Armenia?"

The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the contentious
resolution, which would recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians
by the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as genocide, in an extremely close 23-22
vote. Turkey immediately recalled its ambassador, Namık Tan, back to
Ankara for consultations. He arrived home on Saturday.

The committee’s approval could send the measure to the House floor,
but Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) decided against bringing the
resolution to the floor when a version was last approved by the
Foreign Affairs panel in 2007.

A senior foreign ministry official also told journalists Friday,
according to Hurriyet, that the resolution is perhaps not `the end of
the world’ but surely is the `end of the historic protocols’ signed
between Turkey and Armenia.

`No one should expect Turkish Parliament to proceed with the protocols
at least until April 24,’ the official said.

April 24 is the commemoration day on which Armenians mark the
killings. President Barack Obama promised during his presidential
campaign that he would recognize the killings as genocide, but last
April 24 saw the president issuing a statement expressing sympathy for
the deaths but avoiding the term "genocide."

og-briefing-room/news/85275-turkey-leader-how-many -on-foreign-affairs-panel-could-find-armenia

Le Figaro, France
5 Mars 2010

Génocide arménien : coup de froid entre les USA et Ankara

Mots clés : génocide arménien, ETATS-UNIS, TURQUIE

Par Thomas Vampouille

La Turquie a rappelé jeudi son ambassadeur à Washington, après le vote
par la commission américaine des Affaires étrangères d’une résolution
reconnaissant le génocide arménien.

Les relations se tendent entre Ankara et Washington. La commission des
Affaires étrangères de la Chambre des représentants américaine a
approuvé jeudi une résolution sur la reconnaissance du génocide
arménien par la Turquie en 1915. «C’est une nouvelle preuve de
l’attachement du peuple américain aux valeurs humaines universelles et
un pas important vers la prévention des crimes contre l’humanité», a
réagi le ministre arménien des Affaires étrangères, Edouard
Nalbandian. En signe de protestation, Ankara a en revanche
immédiatement rappelé son ambassadeur aux Etats-Unis «pour
consultations».

«Nous condamnons cette résolution qui accuse la nation turque d’un
crime qu’elle n’a pas commis», a déclaré le gouvernement turc. Elle
n’a «aucune valeur aux yeux du peuple turc», a ajouté le président
turc Abdullah Gül, qui menace de «conséquences négatives (¦) dans tous
les domaines». Selon Ankara, ce vote montre «un manque de vision
stratégique» parmi les élus américains, alors que les deux pays
«travaillent ensemble sur un large éventail de questions». La Turquie,
alliée de longue date de l’OTAN, joue un rôle important dans les
intérêts américains au Moyen-Orient et en Afghanistan, ainsi que dans
la médiation face à Téhéran dans le dossier du nucléaire iranien.

Hillary Clinton avait pourtant mis en garde les membres de la
commission contre l’adoption d’une telle position. Cela «pourrait
dresser des obstacles devant la normalisation des relations» entre la
Turquie et l’Arménie, soutenue par Washington, avait averti la
secrétaire d’Etat américaine. Ce qui n’a pas empêché le texte d’être
voté par 23 voix contre 22. «Les Turcs disent que voter la résolution
pourrait avoir des conséquences terribles pour nos relations
bilatérales, et peut-être y aura-t-il en effet des conséquences», a
déclaré le président de la Commission, Howard Berman. «Mais je crois
que la Turquie tient à ses relations avec les Etats-Unis au moins
autant que nous tenons à nos relations avec la Turquie.»

Le texte n’a pas encore force de loi

La question est un champ de mines diplomatique. Alors que les
massacres commis entre 1915 et 1917 par l’empire ottoman sont
qualifiés de «génocide» par la France, le Canada ou encore le
Parlement européen, l’importante diaspora américaine aux Etats-Unis
fait pression depuis des années en ce sens. Selon les Arméniens, plus
d’un million et demi d’entre eux ont été tués dans ce génocide. La
Turquie reconnaît qu’entre 300.000 et 500.000 personnes ont péri mais,
selon elle, dans le chaos des dernières années de l’Empire ottoman et
non pas victimes d’une campagne d’extermination. Elle récuse donc la
notion de «génocide».

Le texte voté jeudi appelle le président américain à «qualifier de
façon précise de génocide l’extermination systématique et délibérée de
1.500.000 Arméniens». Pour avoir force de loi, il doit désormais faire
l’objet d’un vote devant la Chambre des représentants en séance
plénière. En 2007, une résolution similaire avait déjà été approuvée
mais à l’époque, le président George W. Bush avait empêché que le
texte soit soumis à l’ensemble des élus du Congrès. Barack Obama, qui
avait promis lors de sa campagne électorale la reconnaissance du
génocide arménien, a toutefois renoncé à employer ce terme après son
élection. Ankara voudrait bien le voir rester sur cette position et a
appelé vendredi Washington à bloquer la résolution par «des efforts
plus efficaces», estimant que le vote de jeudi prouve que
l’administration Obama «n’a pas suffisamment pesé» jusqu’à présent.

ational/2010/03/05/01003-20100305ARTFIG00306-genoc ide-armenien-coup-de-froid-entre-les-usa-et-ankara -.php

Aysor, Armenia
March 5 2010

Europe’s Armenians’ll fight for the final recognition of Genocide

Forum of Armenian organisations of Europe has congratulated Armenian
nation for the decision by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
United States House of Representatives to adopt Resolution 252 on the
recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Forum’s chair Ashot Grigorian said that `for the first time in history
Armenian supporters and lobby, in particular, the European and
American ones, and Armenia’s government, including coalition and
opposition) have been making their joint efforts’ in relation to the
recognition of the Genocide of 1915.

`By efforts of represented at the U.S. Congressional Panel
representatives of the Armenian Parliamentary Committee, Armenian
organisation of America, and Armenian Embassy in Washington, the lack
of votes was complemented,’ said in the statement by Forum of Armenian
organisations of Europe.

Ashot Grigorian assured Armenian organisations of Europe will do their
best to contribute to Armenian supporters and lobby in their efforts
on final recognition of the Genocide of Armenians of 1915 by the U.S.
Congress.

`This victory should be an example of solving of all problems and
issues of the Armenian nation,’ said Ashot Grogorian.

`Our power lies in unity.

`I congratulate the Armenians all over the world,’ he said.

CHAMBER OF LAWYERS OF ARMENIA GIVES ITS LEGAL EVALUATION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S REPORT OF APRIL 24, 2009

ArmInfo
2010-03-04 09:43:00

ArmInfo. The Council of the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia made a
statement with legal evaluation of US President Obama’s Report of April
24, 2009. The statement says, in particular: In view of US President
Barack Obama’s Report of April 24, 2009, and the forthcoming voting
on the Armenian Genocide Resolution in US Congress, the Council of
the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia tates the following:

In the final part of the Report, just after using the "Mets Yeghern"
term the second time, President Obama unambiguously claimed that an
attempt was made to destroy the Armenian people: "Nothing can bring
back those who were lost in the Meds Yeghern. But the contributions
that Armenians have made over the last ninety- four years stand as
a testament to the talent, dynamism and resilience of the Armenian
people, and as the ultimate rebuke to those who tried to destroy them".

According to the Armenian lawyers, it is necessary to fully extirpate
a false understanding being periodically exaggerated in the world
community as if B. Obama did not recognize the Armenian Genocide,
as the term "genocide" was not pronounced. Hereby, the Council of
the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia gives its legal evaluation of the
President Obama’s Report: The term "genocide" is relatively new. It
was first defined by a Polish lawyer of Jewish origin Rafael Lemkin in
1994. Before that, every people, who suffered a genocide, determined
it in its own way. So, the Jewish people called it "Holocaust" and we,
Armenians, – "Mets Yeghern".

Article 2 of the United Nations Convention On Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted in 1948 and took effect
in 1951, defines a genocide as "any action committed with an intention
to destroy any national, ethnic, racial or religious group completely
or partially".

President Obama used a long-present term "Mets Yeghern", which is a
synonym of a modern term "genocide". The term "Mets Yeghern" was used
twice and was qualified as an attempt of destruction of the Armenian
people. Apparently, the term "Mets Yeghern" was used by President
Obama just in a sense the Armenians use. The terms "Mets Yeghern",
"Hayots Tseghaspanutyun" and "Armenian Genocide" have always been
identical. From a legal viewpoint, President Obama described just
a genocide, since an attempt of destroying a people is a genocide,
by definition.

Although Obama-politician did not use the term "genocide",
Obama-lawyer, a graduate from the Columbian University and Harvard Law
School recognized the Armenian Genocide quite definitely. On behalf
of the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia, we express our gratitude to
President Obama for his Report of historical importance. Taking into
account the significance of international recognition of the genocide
for prevention of a crime of genocide, we think the time has come to
call a spade a spade and condemn the "Mets Yeghern", and qualify it
as a genocide. In view of this, we highly appreciate the initiative
by US Congress and call on to adopt the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
the statement of the Council of the Chamber of Lawyers of Armenia says.

GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF ARMENIAN BANKING SYSTEM UP 33% TO $2.8 BLN IN 2009

ArmInfo
03.03.2010

ArmInfo. General obligations of the banking system of Armenia were up
33% in 2009 (versus 31% growth for 2008), 19.2% in the second half and
amounted to 1.1 trillion drams ($2.8 billion) on Dec 31. For Q4 alone
general obligations of the banking system of Armenia were up 6% versus
6.5% for Q4 2008. The share of time deposits in general obligations
was 40.8% on Dec 31 2009, and the share of call liabilities was 25.9%.

Deposits and loans provided by banks and other financial organizations
totaled 23.7% and bank correspondent accounts (loro) totaled 1.3%
of general obligations. These indicators amounted to 432 bln drams,
274.4 bln drams, 251.5 bln drams and 13.6 bln drams, respectively.

Analysis and Ranking of the Armenian Banking System prepared by the
Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo) say time deposits grew
52.5% in 2009, call liabilities – 35.5%, bank correspondent accounts
(loro) – almost 42% and deposits and loans provided by the banks
and other financial organizations were up almost 60%. In Q4 alone,
time deposits grew 14%, call liabilities – 10%, whereas in Q4 2008
these indicators were up 0.4% and 14%, respectively. Deposits and
loans provided by the banks and other financial organizations grew 73%
and loro-accounts – 77% for Q4 2009. Dynamics of liability structure
shows that commercial banks raise funds both from the domestic and
external sources, as well as participate in international credit
programs, to maintain lending despite the crisis.

The deeper was the crisis the more intensively banks got involved in
international credit programs and raised long-term and inexpensive
funds to on-lend on favorable terms. It is noteworthy that the banks
involved in the WB SME support programs began funding the small and
medium-sized enterprises in late June 2009. Alongside with this,
the banks got an opportunity to maintain lending on the funds from
the Russian stabilization loan.

Call liabilities of 8 banks were down for Q4 2009, whereas the other
banks showed growth of call liabilities for the given period of time.

Call liabilities of the following banks suffered the most significant
decline for Q4: Ameriabank – 17.1% (the 10th position by the amount
of call liabilities), HSBC Bank Armenia – 11.2% (1st position), and
Ardshininvestbank – 11.1% (3rd position). BTA Bank Armenia showed
the highest quarterly growth – almost 3 times (22nd position). Call
liabilities of Cascade Bank suffered the most significant decline per
year – 30.2% (16th position) , whereas this indicator of ProCredit Bank
grew over two times per year (18th position). Top three of leaders of
the amount of call liabilities comprises HSBC Bank Armenia (65.4 bln
drams), Converse Bank (27.1 bln drams) and Ardshininvestbank (24.7
bln drams). Time deposits of the most of banks fell in Q2, whereas in
Q3-Q4 this indicator of only 5 banks suffered decline. The remaining 17
banks grew. Time deposits of only one bank suffered decline per year,
the remaining 21 banks ensured growth. The most significant decline
of time deposits for Q4 2009 was registered at ArmSwissbank – 21.1%
(17th position by the volume of time deposits). ARARATBANK ensured
the highest growth of this indicator for Q4 – over two times (11th
position). Anelik Bank proved the only bank to show annual decline of
time deposits – 6.9% (14th position). Ameriabank ensured the highest
growth of time deposits per year – almost 4 times (2nd position).

Top five of leaders by the volume of deposits were Unibank – 73.2 bln
drams, Ameriabank – 54.3 bln drams,Ardshininvestbank -51.9 bln drams,
HSBC Bank Armenia – 40.9 bln drams and ACBA Credit Agricole Bank –
33.5 bln drams. The share of these banks was nearly 60% of summary time
deposits of the Armenian banking system. The largest share of time
deposits placed with Unibank, Ardshininvestbank, HSBC Bank Armenia
and ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank belonged to individuals, whereas in
Ameriabank the share of deposits of legal entities was the largest.

HSBC Bank Armenia was the leader by the share of the call liabilities
in general obligations as of Dec 31 2009 – 55.1%. Byblos Bank Armenia
was the leader by the share of the time deposits in total – 80.2%
(15th position by the volume of time deposits). The annual dynamics
of changes in call liabilities and time deposits of ProCredit Bank is
available starting Feb 2008 when the bank entered the Armenian market.