Author: Kharatian Ani

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian community largest in Turkey
13.12.2008 15:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The minority population of Turkey as defined by the
1923 Lausanne Treaty stands at a diminished 89,000, according to a new
report by the Turkish Foreign Ministry and submitted to
Parliament. The report, which the Daily News learned of Friday, was
submitted to the Parliament’s Human Rights Commission in November,
Hurriyet Daily News reports.

While Greeks are the smallest minority group, Armenians are the
largest with a population of 60,000. Aside from the Armenian
Patriarchate in Istanbul, Armenians have 55 churches open for worship
as well as a kindergarten, 17 primary schools, 5 high schools and 2
hospitals. There are also 52 Armenian foundations currently operating
in Turkey.
Jewish citizens follow Armenians with a population of around 25,000.
They have 36 synagogues open for worship, a kindergarten, a primary
school and a high school in Turkey. They also have 18 foundations and
two hospitals.

This definition was made in the Lausanne Treaty in 1923 at the behest
of Western powers and obligated the new Turkish Republic to
acknowledge the special status of these groups. Some small groups,
notably the Ancient Syriac Orthodox community, rejected the status at
the time as divisive and remained outside the legal definition. The
Jewish community also rejected portions of the Lausanne designation as
a violation of social cohesion. Reflecting the sensibilities of the
time, Lausanne regarded all Muslims of Turkey as a single "majority."
The Constitution, however, does not recognize religious or ethnic
affiliation in defining citizenship. The word "Turk," while regarded
in some quarters as an ethnic label, does not under the law mean
anything more than a person of Turkish citizenship.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA COMPLETES THE VISIT TO BULGARIA

armradio.am
12.12.2008 10:06

The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, completed his visit to
Bulgaria.

In the framework of his official visit to Bulgaria, in the evening of
December 10, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Georgi Prvanov attended the
celebratory concert of the renowned Armenian and Bulgarian artists
which took place at the "Bulgaria" music hall in Sofia. Later that
evening, the President of Bulgaria Georgi Prvanov gave the official
dinner in his residence in the honor of Serzh Sargsyan’s official
visit to Bulgaria.

The Presidents of Armenia and Bulgaria participated at the opening
ceremony of the Armenian-Bulgarian Business Forum, during which
the two Presidents stated with satisfaction the high level of the
political dialogue between Armenia and Bulgaria, once again stressed
the necessity to foster business cooperation in different areas,
and expressed readiness to provide a comprehensive support to all
relevant initiatives. A number of bilateral documents were signed in
the framework of the Business Forum.

President Serzh Sargsyan and President Georgi Prvanov participated at
the opening of Sergei Parajanov’s collage exhibition in the Bulgarian
National Gallery of Foreign Arts.

The official visit of the President of Armenia to Bulgaria was
concluded by his visit to the Embassy of Armenia in Sofia and his
meeting with the diplomatic20staff. Later, the President of Armenia
returned to Yerevan.

PROTEST ACTION IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS

A1+
[08:32 pm] 12 December, 2008

A protest action was staged in front of the U.N. Yerevan Office in
support of the Palestinian people on December 12. The protesters
handed a letter to the U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon.

The letter runs in part, "We, the undersigned Armenian organizations,
protest against recent cases of violence of the Israeli Zionistic
regime against Palestinians."

In 1967 Gasa was captured by the Zionist government and was kept in
their reign by 2005. A lot of harm was done to Palestinians during
those years. In 2005 the Zionistic regime was driven out of the
country due to the fierce struggle of Palestinian people but the
territory is controlled by Israeli troops. Today Israel takes steps
contradicting the Geneva International Convention on the occupied
Palestinian territory."

TURKEY IN EUROPE, IS IT THE END?

EuropeNews
Dec 9 2008
Denmark

The draft report presented Tuesday in the European Parliament seems
to definitely abandon the prospect of Turkey’s progress as well as
its accession perspective.

– December 2009 set as a deadline date

The Member of the European Parliament Ria Oomen-Ruijten (European
Popular Party, Conservative, Netherlands) presented on Tuesday the
draft version of her 2008 report on Turkey in the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the European Parliament. Significantly, this presentation
occurred late in front of a sparse assembly of Turkey’s supportive
MEPs and of Anatolian journalists.

>From a general perspective, the draft resolution impresses through
the resigned dissatisfaction it expresses: "concerns" and "regrets"
are the main message delivered to Ankara while accession prospect is
even no more mentioned, but to recall that it is subordinated to the
"full compliance with all the Copenhagen criteria and EU integration
capacity".

On the other hand, the report recalls its "concern to see in Turkey,
for the third consecutive year, a continuous slowdown of the reform
process" despite the strong mandate of the AKP government. It regrets
too that the EC-Turkey Association Agreement and the Additional
Protocol – which would be considered by Brussels as an implicit
recognition of Cyprus by Turkey – "have not yet been implemented fully
by the Turkish government" and it recalls that the non-fulfilment
by Ankara of its commitment "by December 2009 will further seriously
affect the process of negotiations".

"We are pleased to note the new tone of this report, compared to the
previous year, which is now pointing out Turkey’s shortcomings rather
than excusing them. Facing the countless failed pledges of Ankara, this
report gives ground to the credibility of the EU political approach"
stated Laurent Leylekian, executive director of the European Armenian
Federation.

About Human Rights and freedom of speech issues, the report regrets
that "freedom of expression and freedom of the press are still not
fully protected in Turkey", that the amendment to Article 301 of the
Penal Code was not sufficient, as people continue to be prosecuted"
and it is now calling for the repeal of this article. It regrets also
"the frequent website bans, the extent of which draws Turkey away
from standards of a democratic, pluralistic society".

About minorities, the draft report expresses its concerns "about
continuing hostility and violence" that they endure and about the fact
that "Turkey has made no progress on ensuring cultural diversity and
promoting respect for, and protection of, minorities"

"These actual facts are very important to remind us, especially
now, as Turkey is currently threatening even Europeans in Europe,
especially those who dare to mention the Kurdish issue or the Armenian
genocide – for instance columnists Alberto Rosselli, Dogan Ozguden
or professor Ronald Mönsch" commented the director of the European
Armenian Federation.

About the various aspects of the Armenian issue, Mrs Oomen-Ruijten
report "Welcomes the visit of President Gul to Armenia in September
2008 following an invitation from President Sarkisian, and hopes that
it will indeed foster a climate favourable to the normalisation of
relations between their countries".

The paragraph also "calls on the Turkish government to re-open
its border with Armenia and to restore full economic and political
relations with Armenia". Lastly, Mrs Oomen-Ruijten restates her motto,
calling "once again on the Turkish and Armenian governments to start
a process of reconciliation, in respect of the present and the past,
allowing for a frank and open discussion of past events; and calls
on the Commission to facilitate this reconciliation process".

"This time again, Mrs Oomen-Ruijten keeps on to equalise victims and
their butchers while genocide is an imprescriptible crime against
Humanity that cannot be reduced to bilateral relations between two
States" declared Laurent Leylekian.

"We regret this outmoded attitude through which Turkey is encouraged
to keep on its denial policy and through which she put in jeopardy
Turkish intellectuals who are now less afraid to talk about the
Armenian Genocide as such than some MEPs" he concluded.

–Boundary_(ID_ljQVogftoAzSoeE4+gclkA) —

IN MEMORY OF EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Azat Artsakh Daily
06 Dec 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

Delegations from more than 20 countries of the world have arrived in
Armenia to participate in the events dedicated to the 20th anniversary
of the 1988 disastrous earthquake of Spitak.

Representatives from all the states which lent a helping hand to
Armenia after the great disaster have been invited. The guests are
from the former Soviet republics, Hungary, Vatican, Switzerland and
other countries. The relatives of the Serbian and Russian pilots who
died in a plane crash during those days will arrive in Armenia too.

The event will also be participated by more than 30-40 diplomats
accredited to Armenia.

On December the 7th, events dedicated to the great disaster will also
be organized in the towns of Spitak, Gyumri, Maralik and Ashotsk.

PAN-ARMENIAN TELETHON RAISES 35M DOLLARS

Armenian Public TV
Nov 28 2008
Armenia

It said that the 11th pan-Armenian annual telethon showed
"unprecedented results despite the global financial crisis".

The telethon was held in Los Angeles on 27 November at the initiative
of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and its motto was "My home, Armenia",
the TV said. It added that the money raised during this and other
fund-raising events will be used for development projects in Armenia
and Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagornyy Karabakh.

The TV station added that a Pan-European telethon held in France in
November 2008 raised 1.2bn euros. An Armenian businessman from Russia,
Samvel Karapetyan, has announced an about 15m-dollar donation which
will go to the construction of a hospital in Stepanakert (Xankandi),
the capital of Nagornyy Karabakh, the TV station said.

It also quoted the separatist Nagornyy Karabakh president, Bako
Sahakyan, who attended the telethon in Los Angeles, as saying:
"We once again receive an opportunity to say aloud to the world that
Artsakh [Karabakh] was, is and will always be Armenian, and that we
are ready to defend the country of our ancestors and do everything
for this country to be more developed and more accessible for the
Armenian people from day to day."

Interfax-Religion, Russia
Dec 3 2008

Yerevan students’ rally protests treatment of Armenian churches in Georgia

Yerevan, December 3, Interfax – More than 2,000 students of Armenian
universities held a rally on Wednesday protesting against a recent
series of events involving Armenian churches in Georgia, including the
November 16 desecration of two tombstones on the graves of known
Armenians outside Tbilisi’s St. Norashen church at the initiative of
Georgian Priest Tariel Sikinchelashvili.

The students gathered outside the headquarters of the UN office in
Yerevan. They then walked toward the building of the Georgian embassy
in Armenia and handed over a letter to Georgian Ambassador Revaz
Gachechiladze, demanding that "this illegal conduct of Georgian
clergymen be stopped and an appropriate assessment be given to what
has happened."

Several years ago, Priest Sikinchelashvili tried to install tombstones
with inscriptions in the Georgian language on the premises of the
St. Norashen Armenian church. In August 2008, he coordinated efforts
to build a fence around the church with symbols allegedly pointing to
its belonging to the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Armenian Minister for Diaspora Affairs Granush Akopian told a news
conference on Wednesday that "not a single priest has any right to
ruin the century-long friendship of the Armenian and Georgian
peoples."

Akopian said that the fate of Armenian historical and cultural
monuments in Georgia is high on his ministry’s agenda.

MICROSOFT TO EXTEND ITS PROJECTS IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
18:47 05/12/2008

World financial crisis has had no impacts on the Armenian office
of Microsoft, its budgeting and financing, said Grigor Barseghyan,
the director of the local office. Barseghyan said that the budget
for Armenia has been formed for the future 5 years and there would
not be any changes. "Quite the opposite, Microsoft plans to extend
its projects in Armenia," said G. Barseghyan.

Remind that on October 31, Microsoft Company has signed a memorandum
with the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia to implement
5-year programs in Armenia.

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF OSCE MINSK GROUP’S CO-CHAIR COUNTRIES ADOPTED JOINT STATEMENT ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

De Facto
Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, 04.12.08. DE FACTO. On December 4 Foreign Ministers of
OSCE Minsk group Co-Chair countries adopted a joint statement on
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

IAA DE FACTO issues the statement’s text in extenso: "We, the
Foreign Ministers and Deputy Minister of the OSCE Minsk Group’s
Co-Chair countries – France, Russia, and the United States – call
on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to build on the
positive momentum established during the meeting of the Presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow on November 2, 2008. The Moscow
Declaration signed that same day opened a new and promising phase in
our shared endeavor to expand peace in the South Caucasus. In that
declaration, the Presidents reaffirm their commitment to advancing a
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the framework
of the Basic Principles developed by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in
collaboration with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis
of their proposals advanced last year in Madrid.

We call on the parties to work with the Co-Chairs to finalize the Basic
Principles in coming months, and then begin drafting a comprehensive
peace settlement as outlined by those agreed principles. In keeping
with the Moscow Declaration, we call on the parties to work with
the Co-Chairs to=2 0develop confidence-building measures, beginning
with pulling back snipers from the Line of Contact to save lives of
innocent civilians and soldiers as our mediators already proposed to
the sides at the highest level during the last visit mid November. It
is urgent for the parties to work with each other, the Co-Chairs,
and the Personal Representative of the Chairman in Office to stabilize
the ceasefire through this and other measures. We reiterate our firm
view that there is no military solution to the conflict and call on
the parties to recommit to a peaceful resolution".

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSIAN RECEIVES WORLD ABSOLUTE LIGHT WEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION VIC DARCHINIAN

ARMENPRESS
Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Serzh Sargsian
received today world’s absolute super light weight boxing champion
Vic Darchinian.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that the President
congratulated him on winning the exclusive title in the interesting
fight and stressed that "each sport, cultural and other victory on
the international arena makes our history and nation recognizable
and fills each Armenian with a feeling of pride".

In his turn V. Darchinian congratulated the Armenian president for
chess successes of our country and said that he had arrived in Armenia
to take part in the events of 20th anniversary of the 1988 earthquake.

The world’s absolute champion presented his future plans to S. Sargsian
and informed that the next fight will probably take place on February
7, 2009.