Author: Kharatian Ani

Armenian Greco-Roman wrestlers beat Scandinavian team 7:0
13.02.2010 13:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Greco-Roman Wrestling World Cup 2010 kicked off in
Yerevan on February 13.

On the first competition day, Iranian wrestlers defeated Cubans 4:3.
Turks beat Hungarians while Russians overpowered Georgians, both 6:1.

Armenians inflicted a 7:0 defeat on the Scandinavian team.

`The tournament is being held at a proper level,’ vice president of
the Armenian National Committee Razmik Stepanyan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. `As to our team, we will try our best to
break through to the finals due on February 14.’

PROTOCOLS WILL BE BROUGHT TO PARLIAMENT TODAY, GALUST SAHAKYAN SAYS
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
12.02.2010 14:14

The Armenian-Turkish protocols will, most probably, be brought to the
National Assembly today, Head of the Republican faction Galust Sahakyan
told a press conference today. Despite this, yesterday the Government
adopted the procedure of how Armenia can withdraw its signature from
international agreements before they are ratified. This means that
Armenia will withdraw from the process if Turkey fails to ratify the
Armenian-Turkish protocols within a reasonable timeframe.

Which is the reasonable timeframe? "I think the ratification of the
protocols cannot be delayed any longer, because the reasonable time
has already passed and we are losing patience. In case Turkey tries
to move forward with the same flirtation, we’ll think of recalling
our signature," Galust Sahakyan said.

Secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia, MP Edward Sharmazanov
expressed a completely different opinion today. "Saying reasonable
timeframe I mean the terms without artificial protraction. It can take
one day of four months. If the process is not dragged out artificially,
then the timeframe is reasonable," Sharmazanov stated.

DRUG OF TWO MILLION WAS CONFISCATED

794.html
16:23:20 – 11/02/2010

As a result of joint action of the Prosecutor General’s Office and
the Chief Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Police a
large shipment of drugs has been discovered.

On February 8, 2010 a citizen of Iran, an ethnic Kurd Hussein Mohammad
Amin Kalekani Tazeh Kandy was stopped at Artashat-Yerevan highway,
in the car of which was found 4,750 grams of opium. On the same day
he was arrested Hovhannes Davtyan a citizen of Russia, in the car
which was found 7 kg of heroin. Arrested some 10 people involved in
drug trafficking.

SYNDROME OF POWDER KEG
Naira Hayrumyan

1.html
16:06:15 – 12/02/2010

Serge Sargsyan’s speech in Chatham House was interpreted differently.

Many saw it as the embodiment of his own thoughts, particularly people
of Karabakh, who liked the fact that in London at the highest level
was said: "Karabakh considers that it was able to restore justice
impaired in Stalin’s years and to create normal living conditions".

Others liked the fact that "we hate war with all our heart". But much
in this speech has caused mixed feelings.

And most importantly – it rather confirmed than excluded the
possibility of war. However, Serge Sargsyan does not advise to resort
to war, especially to "big investors", but says that "Armenia and
Karabakh have not started the war and they are never going to start
it, but we understand that we must be prepared for war".

Karabakh has been frightened by the ghost of a war for already 16
years. 16 years of life on a "powder keg" which every moment is
ready to explode. The psychology of people of Karabakh is said to
be yet examined by scholars, perhaps there will even be something
phenomenal in it. After all, not everyone can live, build, furnish
an apartment, build business and serve in the army of a country
where the war always scares. Moreover, they consider it their duty
to assure that these threats are not idle. Karabakh seems to have
got the immune of the syndrome of "powder keg". People even joke:
buying expensive furniture, they do not ask about its quality, but
about projections of the political situation. Like, will the price be
compensated before the escalation of the situation? Many even claim
that the information vacuum in which the Karabakh society is driven
is very helpful – fewer threats are heard.

Although everything, of course, is much more serious.

BOOK REVIEW: CAMELOT’S LAST HURRAH

Washington Times
Feb 11 2010

In 1964, not too long after President Kennedy’s assassination, Bill
Adler published "The Kennedy Wit." It quickly became an international
best-seller. This year, with his son and namesake, Bill Adler Jr., Mr.

Adler has brought out "The Wit and Wisdom of Ted Kennedy." Call it
Camelot’s last hurrah if you wish, but don’t bet on it selling nearly
as much as the original.

There are three reasons why sales of this book might be meager. First,
the timing is bad. JFK’s death at an early age shocked people and
thus made them more curious about the late young president. His
brother’s death from brain cancer at 77 was a long time coming,
and Kennedy aficionados have his posthumously published biography,
"True Compass" to clutch.

Second, the Kennedy cachet isn’t what it used to be. In a debate
for the recent special election to fill the vacant Senate seat from
Massachusetts, moderator David Gergen called it "Teddy Kennedy’s
seat." Republican challenger Scott Brown shot back that it’s the
"people’s seat," won the special election and ground workings of
Congress to a halt.

Third, there is the subject matter. Ted Kennedy, it turns out, was
neither witty nor wise. Most of the force of his speeches came from
his larger-than-life, frequently drunken presence. As President Obama
eulogized, "We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate
chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium."

We shouldn’t make light of that presence. Even the senator’s greatest
detractors didn’t doubt his effectiveness. His unfair diatribe against
Judge Robert Bork turned the distinguished jurist’s last name into
a verb (meaning roughly to deny a qualified nominee confirmation by
smearing him).

Republicans were infuriated by that, but they frequently worked with
Kennedy for two reasons. One, he was affable when the cameras weren’t
rolling. Two, when all the haggling was done, once he had made the
deal, he stuck to it.

Still, this is not wisdom. Consider:

"It is wrong – dead wrong – to grant oversized tax breaks for the
wealthiest Americans but to fail to invest more in our nation’s public
schools. What we need is not just a tax cut but an economic plan that
responds to today’s shaky economy by helping all Americans to get a
good education and good jobs. If we expect our children to succeed in
the 21st-century economy, we must do better. If we expect our schools
to meet the challenges of modern education, we must do more. "

Or: "It’s better to send in the Peace Corps than the Marine Corps."

Or: "Based on some estimates, guns are statistically like rats: They
outnumber our population. And not surprising, our output of ammunition
for civilian firearms almost staggers the imagination. American
industry outdoes all other nations in the production of bullets. All
of those bullets could not only wipe out the world’s entire human
population but destroy much of the world’s wildlife as well." (There
goes Bambi).

Or the oft-repeated sign-off from his sour-grapes speech at the 1980
Democratic National Convention: "The work goes on, the cause endures,
the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

There are a few surprises. In the late 1970s, he said some disparaging
things about regulations and actually worked to deregulate the
trucking industry. But then he decided to run against Jimmy Carter
for the Democratic nomination and returned to form. He spent most of
his career as a predictable Democratic party hack.

The Adlers quote Kennedy taking some bold stances once it was safe
to take bold stances. He said the U.S. government should recognize
the Armenian genocide perhaps two decades after President Reagan had
called it a genocide. He faulted President George W. Bush for how he
managed the war in Iraq, not for going to war in the first place. He
was against discrimination and bigotry and for the children.

As for his wit, he liked to recycle jokes. When he heard that North
Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms was about to undergo heart surgery, he
told Helms, "It’s no piece of cake, but it sure beats listening
to Ted Kennedy on the Senate floor." Then, in his get-well note,
Kennedy wrote to Helms, "I would be happy to send you tapes of my
recent Senate speeches if that will help your speedy recovery."

One imagines that Helm’s replied, "Stop it. You’re killing me."

Jeremy Lott is the editor of the Capital Research Center’s Labor
Watch newsletter and author of "The Warm Bucket Brigade: the Story
of the American Vice Presidency" (Thomas Nelson, 2007).

EXIT –

Gibrahayer
Editorial by Simon Aynedjian

Nicosia Wednesday 10 February – It is not by chance that during a
relatively brief period of time, in two neighbouring countries around
Turkey, coalition partners first in Armenia and now in Cyprus are
exiting their reciprocal governments.

It is not by chance, because what is happening in our region – at
the expense of Cyprus and Armenia – is the result of an orchestrated
plan to red-carpet Turkey to a hegemonic regional super-power and to
secure her with a safe passage to the European continent.

This effort would have been welcome by all, if the Turkish entry was
accompanied by traces of real change and not mere cosmetic ones. By
traces of change that would truly manifest that a new Turkey is in
the making, with European specifications and European values.

As everyone is well aware … this is not the case.

By only paying lip-service to both friends and foes, Turkey wants a
ticket to a Union whose fundamental principles she violates.

Turkey is benefiting from the spoils of the invasion in Cyprus in 1974,
continues to deny the reality of the Armenian Genocide and continues
her blockade on Armenia, to name but a few.

Turkey now wants medals, for accepting the Annan Plan (that would
capitulate the Cyprus Republic in 2004), for ratifying the Protocols
(that would solidify the spoils of the Genocide) and wants a free
no-cost pass, to the European elite.

ARF Dashnaktsoutiun and EDEK – the two socialist parties in Armenia and
Cyprus on the east and south flanks of Turkey – have found themselves
on a similar path. To leave a coalition that they joined in an effort
to influence their respective governments and not to accept an all-out
surrender and a peace process whose cost would be too high to manage,
for generations to come.

Although EDEK and ARF Dashnaktsoutiun can both feel they have
politically done the right thing in leaving their coalition partners,
the process of surrender (or peace, as history will call it) will
be completed without them and both Armenia and Cyprus will be unable
to show enough clout to resist regional policy decisions, while the
coalition exit parties will feel that their parties were not empowered
by their people adequately – to make their exit – a statement to be
reckoned with, to receptors both at home and across the border.

ZURICH COURT OF APPEAL LEAVES UNCHANGED THE COURT DECISION ON TURKS DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2010 16:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On February 9, the Zurich Court of Appeal confirmed
the judgment in first proceedings of three partisans of the Turkish
politician Dogu Perincek for Armenian Genocide denial and violation
of the standard antiracism (art.261bis CSP).

According to an independent French journalist Jean Eckian, the
defendants, Swiss citizens of Turkish descent had been stopped on
July 2007 during a meeting organized in a hotel of Winterthur. The
principal defendant, Ali Mercan, 59, representing Workers Party, had
declared that the Armenian genocide was "an international historical
lie ". He was condemned to a fine of 4500 francs. The accomplices,
organizers of the meeting are condemned with a fine of 3600 francs. In
2008, Dogu Perincek, leader of the Workers Party, was condemned by
the Federal court for similar declarations.

Sarkis Shahinian, President of Association Switzerland-Armenia (ASA),
was pleased with the decision of the Swiss court, noting that it
breaks the line of the denial of Turkish State.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.

Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria. Massacres were
indiscriminate of age or gender, with rape and other sexual abuse
commonplace. The Armenian Genocide is the second most-studied case
of genocide after the Holocaust.

The Republic of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire,
denies the word genocide is an accurate description of the events. In
recent years, it has faced repeated calls to accept the events as
genocide.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

1000 DESCENDENTS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ERA INSURANCE POLICY HOLDERS TO RECEIVE COMPENSATIONS

ARKA
Feb 9, 2010

YEREVAN, February 9, /ARKA/. Armenian ministry of justice said today
about 1000 descendents of Armenian Genocide era insurance policy
holders will receive the assets denied to them for far too long by
French AXA insurance company .

The historic case is the second of its kind, following the New York
Life Insurance class action case settled in February, 2004. In both
cases, the heirs of genocide-era claim holders were represented by
Yeghiayan and Associates, Geragos and Geragos, and Kabateck Brown
Kellner.

In 2007, AXA agreed to pay a lump sum of 17.5 million USD, 11
million of which were to be split among the descendants, 3 million
to humanitarian organizations (the Armenian General Benevolent Union,
the Blue Cross and the French-Armenian Fund), while the rest went to
the lawyers.

Barsegh Gartalian, the executive director of the regulatory commission
of AXA, told Armenian ministry of justice that Christina Sneider, judge
of California’s Central District Court, has approved applications for
only 996 descendants. He said the decision is final and not subject
to appeal. The commission had received 13,790 applications (nearly
3,840 were sent by the Armenian Ministry of Justice that handled
applications form citizens of Armenia) of which 12,794 were denied due
to lack of corresponding documents. According to Barsegh Gartalian,
the decisions were ready in July-August 2009, but the court reached the
verdict only in late January 2010 due to technical difficulties.

U.S. CONGRESS WILL NOT ADOPT

Lragir.am
09/02/10

The U.S. Congress will not adopt the resolution on the recognition of
the Armenian genocide, says the head of the Heritage faction Stepan
Safaryan. He noted that the opening of the Armenian and Turkish border
is very important for the U.S. to eliminate the factor of the Russian
gas in the region which activated much especially after the Russian
and Georgian war. According to Stepan Safaryan, since the opening of
the border is linked with such issues, including the Iranian nuclear
plans, the U.S. will not adopt the resolution on the Armenian genocide
because it is possible to fail the Armenian and Turkish process.

Dwelling on the Armenian and Turkish process, Stpean Safaryan noted
that the conditional term set by Armenia, April 24, will not remain
because Turkey has enough resources to overcome it. And Armenia,
according to him, if Turkey does not make any step within this period,
does not have enough resource to toughen its positions.

TURKEY ALTERS ITS COMPASS
Linda S. Heard

Al-Arabiya
010/02/09/99869.html
Feb 9 2010
UAE

Turkey’s affiliations under the leadership of the Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a devout Muslim, are swinging from
West to East. This is good news for the Arab world as Ankara is a
major political and military player on the international stage with
substantial clout. In recent times, Turkey has thawed the freeze with
Syria by signing a slew of economic, cultural, social and strategic
cooperation agreements and is mulling over lifting visa restrictions
for Syrian and Lebanese nationals.

At the same time, Turkey is reaching out to Armenia by setting up a
commission to study the World War I conflict that robbed the lives
of over a million Ottoman-Armenians. Last October, Ankara and Yerevan
signed protocols designed to establish ties that would result in the
reopening of their border but the main sticking point is Armenia’s
insistence that Turkey and the international community officially
recognize the Armenian genocide. Turkey has always resisted that
damning label and always insisted that those who died were casualties
of conflict.

Simultaneously, the Erdogan government is cementing relations with
Russia with trade and energy agreements; Russia currently supplies
around 65 percent of Turkey’s natural gas requirements and may assist
Turkey with the construction of a nuclear energy plant. This new
closeness has resulted in plans to extend cooperation to the South
Caucasus, traditionally within Russia’s sphere of influence, as well
as visa-free travel for the citizens of both nations.

" But there the love fest ends. Ankara’s relations with some of its
traditional allies are strained to say the least "Likewise, Ankara
currently enjoys good relations with Tehran. Earlier this month,
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks in Ankara with
Prime Minister Erdogan involving the transportation of Iranian natural
gas to Europe via Turkey, establishing a joint refinery, jointly
constructing industrial centers and increasing bilateral trade from
$10 billion annually to $30 billion. The Turkish minister of state
said Turkey is keen to begin a "golden age" in Turkish-Iranian ties.

While Turkey is against nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, it
backs Iran’s right to nuclear energy and does not support anti-Iranian
sanctions.

But there the love fest ends. Ankara’s relations with some of its
traditional allies are strained to say the least.

Its important strategic alliance with Washington, which culminated in
America’s Incirlik Air base was shaken when the U.S. invaded Iraq in
2003. Turkey was against the Iraq war from the get-go and blames it
for strengthening Kurdish secessionist ambitions. And when, in 2007,
the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed a resolution in
favor of Armenia’s stance on the alleged "genocide," Turkey temporarily
withdrew its ambassador from Washington.

However, for its part, the U.S. government tends to tread softly with
Turkey in light of its NATO role as a strong eastern bulwark and its
hosting of Incirlik which was a crucial asset during the Cold War and
the 1991 Gulf War. Turkey’s importance to Washington was reflected by
President Barack Obama’s official visit, last April, criticized within
some U.S. circles as blessing a country embarked on establishing a
powerful Islamic bloc contrary to American interests. The U.S. has
also fervently backed Turkey’s efforts to join the EU, which has been
somewhat of an annoyance to European countries that are vehemently
opposed.

Indeed, hopes of Turkey’s EU membership are fast fading. With some
reluctance, the 27-member union began talks on Turkey’s eventual entry
in 2005 but despite Turkey’s compliance with entrance requirements,
such as a ban on capital punishment, it is still being criticized on
its failure to reach an accord on the divided island of Cyprus. The
latter accusation is unfounded when it was a Greek-Cypriot ballot
that stymied progress.

" Then, last month, Israel’s discourteous treatment of Turkish
Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, called to answer Israeli criticisms of
a Turkish television series that painted Israelis in a negative light,
caused a diplomatic incident "The Turkish government believes France
and Germany, in particular, are erecting obstacles where none exist.

Both of these "old European" countries have been open in
their opposition to Turkish accession, preferring a "privileged
partnership." French President Nicolas Sarkozy is fiercely opposed. In
2007, he said this: "I do not think Turkey has a place in Europe"; its
place is in "Asia Minor." And, last year, Sarkozy warned Obama to stay
out of Europe’s business when it comes to Turkey’s EU bid. It’s little
wonder, therefore, that Ankara is hedging its bets by cultivating
other alliances even while it’s officially sticking to the EU program.

But the relationship that is most in jeopardy is with Israel, which
goes back to 1948 when Turkey was the first predominantly Muslim
country to recognize the Jewish state. Since, the two countries have
benefited from military cooperation in terms of arms sales, joint
maneuvers, and pilot exchanges. They also enjoy trade relations and
have signed a "Turkish-Israeli Free Trade Agreement." That warmth
has now been replaced by a distinct chill for various reasons.

In the first instance, Erdogan has loudly condemned Israel’s Operation
Cast Lead in Gaza to the extent of walking off a stage at the World
Economic Forum in Davos last year after angrily sparring over the issue
with Israeli President Shimon Peres. The Turkish PM has referred to
Israel’s attack as "disproportionate" and "a crime against humanity."

Then, last month, Israel’s discourteous treatment of Turkish Ambassador
Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, called to answer Israeli criticisms of a Turkish
television series that painted Israelis in a negative light, caused
a diplomatic incident.

This was sparked by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon who
ordered the removal of the Turkish flag during a joint press conference
and told Israeli journalists to take note that the Turkish diplomat
was seated on a low sofa while the Israeli officials had been given
much higher chairs.

Erdogan was quick to warn Israel that its deliberate humiliation
of its diplomat threatened bilateral cooperation. "Losing a friend
like Turkey in the future should be an issue to which Israel should
give some thought…" he said. The tense situation was calmed by an
apology from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Turkish government is currently walking a tightrope over the
Bosphorus between the east and the west but in the event it decides to
take a giant leap toward the Orient, Israel and its European allies
will have only themselves to blame. Their loss will undoubtedly be
this region’s gain