Author: Mamian George

Aysor, Armenia
April 24 2010

`The world recognition process will surely find a solution’

After visiting Tsitsernakaberd and honoring the memory of the innocent
victims the Ambassador of Ukraine to Armenia Alexander Bozhko informed
on the briefing with the journalists that `the recognition process of
the Armenian Genocide should be solved though rather long time has
passed after the crime.’

A. Bozhko also informed that today in Ukraine there are series of
events dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He
has mentioned that in Kiev particularly was organized a conference to
discuss these tragic events and their lessons.

Trend, Azerbaijan
April 23 2010

Turkish ruling party member: Yerevan’s decision puts Ankara in
beneficial position

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 23 / Trend U. Sadikhova /

Yerevan was wrong in making the decision to freeze the process of
normalizing ties with Turkey, ex-Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis
said. Armenia hoped to increase pressure on Turkey, but inadvertently
did the exact opposite, he said.

"Armenia contributed to reducing pressure on Turkey. In the case of
the ratification of the protocols in the Armenian parliament, Turkey
would be in a difficult position," Turkish MP of the ruling Justice
and Development Party told Trend over phone from Ankara.

On Thursday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree
suspending the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols on
normalizing relations between Yerevan and Ankara.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey were broken due to
Armenian claims of an alleged genocide and its occupation of
Azerbaijani lands. Their border closed in 1993.

Sargsyan’s message to the public said Armenia has decided not to exit
the normalization process, but rather only to suspend the ratification
of the protocols.

The Turkish MP thinks Armenia’s decision to freeze the ratification
process is due to pressure by the Armenian diaspora.

"By launching this process, Turkey intended to bring the conflict to
an end. The protocols were signed for this purpose. But now, after
Armenia’s decision, we do not have anything that can contribute to the
continuation of these processes. Armenia failed to resist the
diaspora’s games and pressure," Yakis said.

He said Turkey is in a better position now, as it has avoided the
pressure in accelerating processes of normalization.

"We should not continue this process until Armenia states its position
publicly," Yakis said.

Turkey’s position on the normalization of ties with Armenia remains
unchanged, the Turkish MP said. The borders will not be reopened
without significant advances in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, even if
the item is not indicated in the potocols, he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the United
States – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the
occupied territories.

The Province, Canada
April 25 2010

‘The genie is out of the bottle’
For first time, Turkish citizens publicly acknowledge the Ottoman
forces’ massacres of Armenians nearly a century ago

Hundreds of rights activists and artists here commemorated the 1915-17
massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks for the first time Saturday,
breaking a near century-old Turkish taboo.

The biggest rally was in Taksim Square, in the heart of modern
Istanbul, where several hundred people staged a sit-in, holding red
carnations and candles and listening to recordings of Armenian music.

Police in riot gear guarded the event and kept at bay a group of
counter-demonstrators.

Earlier the Istanbul branch of the IHD human rights association
organized a rally attended by about 100 people on the steps of the
Haydarpasa train station from where the first convoy of 220 deported
Armenians left on April 24, 1915.

Under the slogan "Never Again" and, again, the watchful eye of the
police, demonstrators carried black and white photos of some of the
deportees, most of whom never returned.

Counter-protesters also gathered near the IHD demo, including former
diplomats waving the Turkish flag. Forty-two Turkish diplomats were
killed by the extremist Armenian Asala organization in the 1970s and
1980s.

Turkish intellectuals and artists signed a petition calling on "those
who feel the great pain" to show their sorrow.

Avoiding an open confrontation over the term genocide — which the
Turkish government fiercely rejects — the petition speaks of the
"Great Catastrophe" of the massacres.

"The genie is out of the bottle," said Cengiz Aktar, an Istanbul
academic who backs the petition. "These broken taboos concern not just
Armenia, but also other hidden subjects" such as the rights of
minority Kurds, he added.

He said that despite the police presence, organizers feared a backlash
from people opposed to the demonstration.

The Istanbul rallies came as tens of thousands of Armenians marked the
95th anniversary of the mass killings in the Armenian capital Yerevan,
amid fresh tensions with Turkey over the collapse of reconciliation
efforts.

The dispute about the genocide label has poisoned relations between
the two neighbours for decades.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed a statement by
U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday which avoided the use of the
term and instead referred to "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th
century."

"President Obama has made a statement which takes into account the
sensibilities of Turkey," Erdogan said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of
modern Turkey, was falling apart.

le/2949037/story.html

THE TIME HAS COME RALLY GOING ON IN REPUBLIC SQUARE, YEREVAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2010 – 12:25 AMT 07:25 GMT

The Time has Come, a rally dated to the 95th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, is going on in Republic
Square, Yerevan.

As a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent reports from the scene, cultural
and show business workers, sportsmen and students are among the
participants, who commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, once again remind that the time has come to recognize this
crime against humanity.

IRAN TESTS SPEED BOATS IN "MAJOR" GULF WAR GAMES

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 22, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards successfully
deployed a new speed boat capable of destroying enemy ships as war
games began on Thursday in a waterway crucial for global oil supplies,
Iranian media reported.

The Islamic Republic, which is locked in a dispute with the West
over its nuclear activities, often announces advances in its military
capabilities in an apparent bid to show its readiness for any attack
by Israel or the United States.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon said U.S. military action against Iran
remained an option even as Washington pursues diplomacy and sanctions
to halt the country’s atomic activities.

Iranian media said naval, air and ground units of the elite Guards
force would take part in the three-day exercise in the Gulf and the
Strait of Hormuz. About 40 percent of the world’s traded oil leaves
the Gulf region through the strategic narrows.

Western military analysts say Iran may resort to "asymmetric warfare"
if it comes under attack, for example by deploying swarms of speed
boats to disrupt enemy operations in the Gulf.

State broadcaster IRIB said the Guard put into operation for the
first time its "smart and unique" Ya Mahdi vessel.

"The radar-evading, high-speed Ya Mahdi vessel is able to track and
target the enemy’s surface vessels in a smart way and destroy them,"
it said, adding it was now being mass produced.

A spokesman for the maneuvers, Ali-Reza Tangsiri, said Ya Mahdi was
a remote-controlled vessel whose missiles could blow 7-meter holes
in any enemy ship.

State Press TV said the Guards’ exercise in the Gulf would show
off Iran’s defensive capabilities and its determination to maintain
security in the region.

The ILNA news agency said more than 300 various high-speed vessels
took part in the drill, equipped with missiles and rockets and carrying
Guards commandos.

"These vessels are regarded as the enemy’s nightmare," ILNA said.

A hypothetical enemy war ship which had entered Iran’s territorial
waters was targeted, seized and destroyed, it said.

Theodore Karasik, research director at the Institute for Near East and
Gulf Military Analysis, said the use of swarms of speedboats can be an
"effective tool" against the enemy.

"It plays to their strengths. What they are trying to do (in case
of conflict) is deny and deter access to the strait and surrounding
areas," Karasik told Reuters in Dubai.

"However, the U.S. and other navies know how to counter this," he said.

The drills coincided with rising tension between Iran and the West,
which fears Tehran’s nuclear program is aimed at developing bombs.

Iran denies the charge.

The United States is pushing for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions
on Tehran over its refusal to halt sensitive nuclear activities
as demanded by the U.N. Security Council, including proposed moves
against members of the Guards.

Israel, widely believed to have the Middle East’s only atomic arsenal,
has described Iran’s nuclear program as a threat to its existence.

Iran, a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim state, has said it would respond
to any attack by targeting U.S. interests in the region and Israel,
as well as closing the Strait of Hormuz

Voelkermord.at – Gesellschaft für die Dokumentation von Völkermorden
Vienna; Austria
Contact: Martin Bitschnau
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

The origin pfd, with all the foot notes can be found:

April 24, 2010

—–

Voelkermord.at – Gesellschaft für die Dokumentation von Völkermorden
Vienna; Austria
Contact: Martin Bitschnau
E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

The origin pfd, with all the foot notes can be found:

April 24, 2010

Book review of the »Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish
Platform«
Inanc Atilgan, Garabet Moumdjian 2009 published in Wieser-Verlag

From the very beginning, the book gives the impression that Turkish
and Armenian scholars met and discussed the events which took place
during World War I. A closer examination of the book questions the
work and its scientific nature.

Genocide unresolved?
Like many »liberal« spokesmen (politicians, scholars ¦) from
the Turkish group, Atilgan tries to give the impression that the
Armenian Genocide is an unresolved question where scholars are divided
in two approximately equal groups with two contrasting opinions. One
group says that it was genocide; the other group says that during the
war there was a civil war and that there was no intention on the part
of the Ottoman leadership to destroy the Armenians, but only to
relocate them. Wherever deniers appear they try to present their
opinions as those of half of the scientific world. The fact is that
the group of »scholars« who deny this genocide is a minority and
are either nationalist Turks or well paid by Turkey.

The long line of dialogs
To understand the full scale of Atilgan’s and Moumdjian’s book –
»Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish Platform« –
the reader needs to know what the book doesn’t provide: a historical
framework as a foundation.

Especially during the last 20 years, different kinds of meetings,
workshops and discussion groups on various levels have taken place
between Armenians and Turks. One of the important gatherings was the
»Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Committee ` TARC«. TARC
brought ex-diplomats, high ranking ex-military officers and
(ex-)leaders of large nongovernmental organisations together. Each of
the TARC members had served the group they represented for several
years and was therefore highly respected and influential in their
respective group. David Phillips, the main organizer and mediator of
the TARC, was convinced that this kind of meeting needs several
initial meetings to clarify (by the group) the topics which both sides
were willing to talk about. One of these meetings was the `Discussion
between Armenian and Turkish Scholars and Civil Society
Representatives’. The `Discussion between Armenian and Turkish
Scholars and Civil Society Representatives’ was finally convened at
the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna on June 10, 2000. Even was joined by
Halil Berktay [Sabanici University Istanbul], an accomplished
historian with the uncanny ability to speak with authority and at
great length on seemingly every subject.’ 1 Rouben Adalian, director
of the »Armenian National Institute ANI«, scientist and author
of several books including the »Encyclopaedia of Genocide«,
»Armenian Genocide Resource Guide« and the » Guide to the
Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Archives (1915-1918)«, was one of the
participants on the Armenian side. 2 Alongside numerous other topics
the group of Armenian and Turks `[…] discussed the Turkish and
Armenian official records, encyclopaedias and textbooks.’3 TARC was
founded on September 15, 2001 and worked until April, 14. 2004. 4

Atilgan’s interpretation of TARC
In the »Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish
Platform« you can read that Atilgan’s opinion of the »Turkish
Armenian Reconciliation Committee ` TARC« in 20015. `The TARC
Process, which was being evaluated, had to be stopped as the
nationalists of both sides were not involved in the reconciliation
process.[…]’ 6.

Perhaps there is a more reasonable explanation why TARC didn’t
continue its work. On September 24, 2001 at a TARC meeting the
`Armenians tried to express the grief of being driven from their
homes, [The Turkish Diplomat Omer ] Lutem retorted, ‘Turkish books do
not show any Armenian presence before the Turks. Anatolia was never an
Armenian homeland. You were just visitors.’ When Alex [Alexander
Arzumanian former foreign minister of Armenia] pointed out that they
were in Anatolia long enough to build four thousand churches.’ [
Mumtaz] Sosay added: `We tried to destroy them all, but there were
just too many.’ Then Lutem threatened, `If Armenians insist on
genocide, Turkey will inflict hurt Armenia. Is that what you want?’ 7
In my opinion a main reason that TARC fell apart was that in September
2002 TARC gave the »International Center for Transitional Justice `
ICTJ« the mandate to study the treatment of the Ottoman Armenians
in WWI to determine whether the events of 1915 fulfilled the UN
Genocide Convention or not. In 2003 the experts form ICTJ presented
their results to the TARC. ICTJ came to the opinion that the mass
murder of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during WWI fulfilled the
conditions of the UN Genocide (Dec. 8, 1948) Convention. This decision
was probably a disaster for the Turks and therefore Gunduz Aktan, Sadi
Erguvenc and Ozdem Sanberk exited TARC.

Background of the `VAT Book’ the »Archival Documents of the
Viennese Armenian-Turkish Platform« In the year 2003 when TARC was
about to collapse, the »Viennese Armenian Turkish Platform `
VAT« popped up. VAT presented itself as a platform of historians
(Wolfdieter Bihl, Artem Ohandjanian, Kerstin Tomenendal and
Inanç Atilgan [until 2002/2003 his name was Inanç
Feigl]) who wanted to mediate between Armenian and Turkish historians
in order to discuss the `Turkish-Armenian question in the year 1915 in
the course of the First World War 8 on the basis of strict scientific
methods and rules’9

The VAT procedure
As a start, VAT asked the Armenians and the Turks to deliver until
July 15, 2004 `100 documents as a maximum’10 from each side which
confirm `their understanding of this delicate matter’. 11 After
inspection of the 100 documents each side would have the possibility
to respond to these documents with another 80 documents. 12 The book
»Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish Platform«
which represents the outcome of the VAT’s activities doesn’t give any
clue about the system or pattern used to choose the documents, of
which there are many. There is a complete lack of historical,
biographical and political context with regard to the documents and
those who wrote the letters, telegrams and analyses.

Missing skills
From the beginning, the activities of the VAT – for different reasons
` never got off the ground. VAT did not have not the skills, nor the
financial means or the network of second level workers which is needed
for such a large project. For example: It was clear from the beginning
that the `Turkish side’ would base their argumentation on documents `
written in Osmanli ` from the Ottoman Archives. VAT’s
»President« Wolfdieter Bihl was to be destined the only
authority during the Armenian-Turkish talks. But Bihl can’t speak
Turkish and can’t read and write Osmanli. 13 So that Bihl could
perform this task, the Turkish Historical Society TTK provided the
Ottoman documents not only as a facsimile but also in English
translation. 14 (with regard to the quality of TTK translations see
below …)

Why just Austrian documents?
The Armenian Academy of Science transferred 100 (?) documents which
exclusively came from the Austrian Archive. These documents are part
of Ohandjanian’s facsimile collection, which was one of the basic
sources for Atilgan’s doctorate which he wrote under the guidance of
Bihl (see below). Not one single document brought from the `Armenian
side’ came from a different archive than from the Austrian one in
Vienna. Wouldn’t Armenian scholars ` who are living and working
worldwide ` have wished to present documents from different archives
and different nations? Aren’t there any documents in the USA, Great
Britain, France, Germany, Russia or elsewhere concerning the
deportation and killing of a part of the Ottoman population? There is
an overwhelming amount of documents in many nations’ archives which
prove the genocide. Even the Ottoman Archive has enough documents to
prove the genocide according to Taner Akcam, author of the book
»The shameful act«. However, as a scholar you must make a
crosscheck with other documents to verify or falsify your theories.

A lack of legitimation?
Before the first exchange of documents took place, the Turkish
newspapers published this and declared the `Turkish side’ to be the
winner of the exchange and talks between Armenian and Turkish
scholars. Then Ashot Melkonian as the head of the historians of the
Armenian Academy of Science resigned from his participation. In summer
2004, Ohandjanian as a member of the Armenian Academy of Science
exited the VAT to take the place of the historian Melkonian on the
`Armenian side’. When Lavrenti Barseghian (who can’t speak German or
English) refused his invitation for this conference on 27 October
2004, the VAT (Atilgan, Tomenendal and Bihl) was without Armenian
participants.

Revival of the `Armenian side’
Today we know that Atilgan found a new use for the documents. He
continued the activities of the VAT without the Armenians, and did not
reveal the full circumstances of the resignation of the Armenian
members. Years after losing the `Armenian side’ Atilgan met Garabet
Moumdjian, an Armenian-American scholar. Together with Moumdjian, who
has no knowledge of German, he translated the Austrian documents `
written in German ` and published them together with Turkish documents
in this (»Archival Documents of the Viennese Armenian-Turkish
Platform«) book. With Garabet Moumdjian, who gave his name,
Atilgan maintained the impression of an Armenian participation, and
the impression that the book would be the result of honest Turkish `
Armenian dialogue and joint work.

Not consistent
In the book you can find 102 documents from the »Turkish side«,
73 from the »Armenian side« and two documents which were
presented by both sides. Instead of 179, as announced in the opening
credits15, the book contains 177 documents.

Let us go into details:
The VAT book isn’t consistent in the naming of persons, titles and
nations. For example, the `Foreign Ministry of Austria-Hungary’ 16 is
correctly named in many places but on several occasions you can read
the `Austrian Foreign Ministry’ 17. The title of the foreign minister
also changes its form `[¦], foreign minister of the Habsburg
Empire’ 18 to `Austrian foreign minister’ 19.(the nation of Austria
had not been founded at that time)

Documents at the wrong place/time
Document No. 2 of this book on page 66/67 was presented by the
»Armenian side« and was dated by Atilgan as being from 28 June
1914. In fact the original document is dated 28 June 1915. The
original documents starts with: `The Kurdish revolts have increased
their scope. The districts Van, Bitlis, Mus and Dersim are
affected. Now the Ottoman Government is giving this its full
attention. Two Ottoman Bey’s, one from Erzingan and the other from
Komach, west of Erzingan, have been sent to negotiate with the
insurgents. Armenians and Kurds together have started to establish
their own political system with self-administration under Russian
guidance and assistance. [¦]’

Atilgan translates the same document as follows `Rebellions took place
in Van, Bitlis and Mush. Kurds and Armenians are working together to
establish their own states under Russian leadership.’ 20

The way document No. 163 (presented by the »Turkish side«) is
introduced contains two basic mistakes. Firstly the document is dated
Oct 23 ` Nov. 21 1918, which is not chronologically correct.

Secondly, this document is presented as one single document but in
fact includes 5 telegrams dated between Oct. 23 – Nov. 21 1918. Beside
this example of adding telegrams and counting them as one single
document the Turks presented 102 documents instead of `100 documents
as a maximum’21 It appears that the »moving« of the timelines of
documents could serve ` in old Turkish fashion ` the goal of
exchanging reaction and action. The rebellions had ` according to Turk
doctrine ` to take place before the deportations. But what if the
Armenians rose up during the `deportations’: then this would look like
self-defense and this is the picture the Turks want to avoid. Then the
Ottoman Turks `deported’ the Armenians for other reasons rather than
because of rebellious activities, as official Turkey always
claims. The excuse that Armenians and Turks fought and killed each
other is complete nonsense, because the Armenian men were mainly
serving in the Ottoman Army, which subsequently executed them.

Wrong translation
Atilgan and Moumdjian translated 73 documents from the `Armenian side’
` with the exception of document Nr. 70 ` wrongly.

For example, in document 23 the Austrian Ambassador Palavicini writes
about the `[¦] armenische Unruhen [¦]’ which means `[¦]
Armenian unrest [¦]’ Atilgan translates this as `[¦] Armenian
revolts[¦]’.22

In one of the key documents from the Austrian archive dated Sep. 30,
1915 from Karl von Trautmannsdorff to Count Stephan Burian,
Austro-Hungarian Imperial Foreign Minister, we can read, `[¦] It is
undeniable today that the Turks took the undoubtedly frequent cases of
treason and sedition as an excuse to carry out the extermination of
the Armenian race, which seems to have succeeded to a great
extent. Talaat Bay recently told me with some satisfaction that in
Erzurum, for instance, there is barely an Armenian left. [¦]But if
in further developments there is a war between Turkey and Greece I
fear that Turkey, which now lives under the delusion that
extermination of the Armenian race can be done with impunity, would
use this opportunity take action against the Greeks using force and
mass deportations. Given the impracticable nature of such measures,
the Greeks would face the same destiny as the Armenians in the months
before. [¦]’23

Atilgan `contents` the same Documents as following; `According to news
received from intelligence sources and Bank branches today, this
extermination policy against the Armenians might also apply against
Greeks because of Greece’s declaration of war [against the Ottoman
Empire]! The arguments used against the Armenians (economic, etc. )
can be applies to the Greeks too.’ 24

Atilgan’s translation changes the meaning of the document. Why did the
authors condense each document in such a delicate matter? The scholars
want to read the original or at least an unabridged very good
translation of the text and interpret the text themselves.

The Inspection Committee
To give the book greater credibility, Atilgan and Moumdjian introduce
an Inspection Committee on page 5 of the VAT book (Wolfdieter Bihl,
Markus Köhbach, Kemal Cicek, Garabet Moumdjian and Lojze
Wieser). Lojze Wieser is the owner of the »Wieser Verlag«
publishing house and responsible for the printing of the
book. Köbach and Bihl are both professors at the University of
Vienna. Kerstin Tomenendal and Inanç Atilgan ` who are married
to each other ` were their students.

At this point I remember Prof. Bihl’s speech in April 2005 in front of
the Viennese Armenian community on the occasion of the 90th
anniversary of the genocide of Armenians. He spoke about the rebellion
of the Armenians and that the Armenian behaviour was taken by the
Turks as a reason to deport the entire Armenian population from their
homeland. He quoted the two deniers Yusuf Halacoglu and Erich Feigl
[adopted father of Inanç Atilgan] and didn’t talk about the
concentration camps and the mass murder of the Armenians. Under the
line he didn’t want to evaluate all these events as genocide. The
Armenian audience was left by Bihl with the feeling that it was their
people’s own fault that they had been deported and murdered. Bihl
also bears the responsibility for Atilgan’s doctorate in which Atilgan
explains that the deportation was a `legitimized attempt to solve a
problem in an extreme manner.’ 25

Atilgan’s evaluation of the systematic killing of one and a half
million Armenian is based on Halacoglu, who `can’t see any Ottoman
intention behind the mass killing of Armenians.’ Bihl, according to
Atilgan `confirms this position but adds that the Ottoman leadership
should have known that deportations of families during wartime over a
distance of 1000km to the south will cost many lives because of
attacking gangs, no infrastructure and different reasons like hunger
and sicknesses.’ 26 Therefore Atilgan doesn’t call the Armenian mass
killing a genocide. 27

Bihl awarded Atilgan’s doctorate the best mark »very good«.

Scholarly or political
Atilgan does not tire of pointing out that his work in general and
this book in particular is scientifically motivated. By checking the
sources of the 177 documents you find out that all the documents are
known and were published in the 1980s. Practical all these Turkish and
Austrian documents can be found as facsimiles, either with English
translations or in the German original, in books which are available
in the university library in Vienna. What then is the intention of
the VAT book if it is just a simple reprint of already published
documents? Why did the `Turkish side’ travel to Vienna to present
documents which everyone had known for 30 years? The only difference
between the »British Documents on the Ottoman Armenians«28,
»Armenian Activities in the Ottoman Documents (1914-1918)«29,
the facsimile collection of Artem Ohandjanian and the book which has
now been printed is that the Turkish and the Austrian documents have
been brought together in one book.

Conclusion
Atilgan did once write `Audiatur et altera pars’ 30 : let us hear the
other side. The other side ` the Turkish scholars ` had the chance to
present a new interpretation, something interesting, thrilling or even
breathtaking. The chance to prove that Turkish human sciences have
caught up with international standards by working strictly according
to scientific methods and regulations is gone. For nearly 50 euros you
get impressive proof from Atilgan that until today Turkish human
sciences work by turning down the facts and by the false translation
of documents, denial tactics and half-truths which we have been
familiar with since the 1980s from the Turkish Historian Society. It
is disconcerting is that Austrian scholars have given their names for
such a book. For scholars who work according a political doctrine it
can be said that: If the hypothesis is the declared target of the
research then this is not science.

———
1 David L. Phillips; Unsilencing the Past, Tarck two Diplomacy and
Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation; Bergham
Books; New York Oxford; 2005; p. 23
2 David L. Phillips; Unsilencing the Past; p. 24
3 David L. Phillips; Unsilencing the Past; p. 24
4 David L. Phillips; Unsilencing the Past; p. 134
5 At the year of its founding
6 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents of the Viennese
Armenian-Turkish Platform; Edition
Diwan im Wieser Verlag, 2009; p. 21
7 David L. Phillips; Unsilencing the Past; p. 43
8 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 29
9 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 29
10 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 37
11 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; couver
12 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 37
13 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 44
14 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 48
15 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 23
16 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 222
17 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 184
18 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 194
19 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 782
20 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 66
21 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 37
22 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 166f
23 Ohandjanian Artem; Armenien Der verschwiegene Völkermord, Böhlau,
Wien p. 105f and also Atilgan
Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 581
24 Atilgan Incanc, Moumdjian Garabet; Archival Documents; p. 580
25 Atilgan Incanc doctorate, das Kriegsjahr 1915, page 197
26 Atilgan Incanc doctorate, das Kriegsjahr 1915, page 199
27 Atilgan Incanc doctorate, das Kriegsjahr 1915, page 199
28 To find at the library of the University of Vienna under:
»British Documents on the Ottoman Armenian Vol I«signature AC01691525
»British Documents on the Ottoman Armenian Vol II«signature AC01691538
»British Documents on the Ottoman Armenian Vol IIII«signature AC00252687
»British Documents on the Ottoman Armenian Vol IV«signature AC03172571
29 To be found in the library of the University of Vienna signature
AC06611553
30 Atilgan Incanc in a letter to the human rights organization `society
for threatened people’ 2006

H. ABRAHAMYAN MET WITH THE LEADING UAE MEDIA

Aysor
April 22 2010
Armenia

On April 22 the RA NA Chairman Hovik Abrahamyan had a meeting with
the representatives of some of the leading Medias of the United Arab
Emirates. As the Public relations and information department of the
RA NA reports Hovik Abrahamyan has answered to the their questions
which mainly concerned the Armenian – Emirate, Armenian – Turkish,
and Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

YET ANOTHER INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Lucine Kasbarian on

888

This weekend is the 95th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide.

Lucine Kasbarian writes on media coverage of recent Turkish tantrums.

****

Recent articles in the mainstream media would have us believe that
governments around the world somehow question the factuality of the
1915 Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides committed by Turkey. These
articles would also have us believe that the Turkish government’s
latest temper tantrums over these genocides are justified. Turkey,
of course, just recalled its ambassadors to protest the passage of
resolutions by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs
Committee and the Swedish Parliament that acknowledged Turkish
culpability for these genocides.

Despite what today’s mainstream media are declaring, the evidence
proving the 1915 genocides is overwhelming. And formal resolutions
affirming these unpunished crimes against humanity made appearances
around the world long before 2010. Regardless of what pro-Turkish
apologists would have us believe, the issue has never been about
whether the Turkish regime carried out genocide. Rather, it has always
been about when Turkey would be punished and deliver reparations and
restitution to the rightful, indigenous inhabitants.

Powerful media elites would have us believe that the mainstream media
universe has been devoid of criticism for Turkey’s unpunished crimes
because such voices are either non-existent, marginal, irrelevant,
fabricated or some combination thereof.

What the media elites fail to tell us is that when these critical
voices — from victim ethnic groups or elsewhere — come forward to
submit letters, opinion pieces, or quotes, they are usually denied
access.

Media elites also neglect to tell us that opinions that do not
reflect the official narrative spun by Turkey — not to mention
Israel and the U.S. — largely go unpublished. Authoritative voices
that would discredit mainstream media’s official narrative of the
genocide issue are removed from the elite’s "golden rolodex" —
the name given to describe the small group of establishment-approved
"experts" who are most frequently quoted in news stories or asked to
appear on television.

The absence of dissent in the mainstream media and in the halls
of power does not mean that the victims of the genocides and their
descendants are insignificant, apathetic or deceitful. No, we are
alive, awake and infuriated.

The media are also telling us that we should sympathize with Turkey
because it feels "humiliated" by accusations of genocide. Turkey
uses this word to describe its anger that its national honor has
somehow been injured by such accusations. Do Turkish, Israeli and
American officials know what "humiliation" means to the survivors
and descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides who
experienced debasement and degradation during the genocidal ordeals
and are forced to endure denials and demeaning treatment right up to
the present day?

And how did humiliation of the victims occur? By order of the Young
Turk regime, unarmed civilian subjects — Armenian, Assyrian and Greek
men, women and children — were raped in broad daylight, in front of
their families and neighbors. The tortures and violations were beyond
one’s wildest imagination. Innocents were skinned and burned alive.

Their tongues and fingernails were torn out. Horseshoes were nailed
to their feet. They were stripped naked and sent on death marches
into the desert. Women’s breasts were cut off and their pregnant
bellies bayoneted. Fetuses were thrown up into the air and impaled
on swords and bayonets for sport. Men were tied to tree limbs that
were bent towards one another. When the tree’s limbs were released,
the men’s bodies were torn in half. Women were tied to horses and
dragged to their deaths.

Those Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks who were not exterminated,
enslaved in harems, or kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam
were driven from their indigenous lands. Those who survived the death
marches spent the rest of their lives in exile, uprooted from their
culture and civilization, grieving for their slaughtered families
and yearning for their ancestral homeland.

Media elites are giving voice to embroidered Turkish "humiliation"
and not to the real humiliation of the victims, survivors and heirs
who live with constant anguish in the face of torture, dispossession,
contempt and indifference. Media elites are defending Turkey when it
is the martyrs and their heirs who deserve mercy and compassion.

In spite of Turkey’s efforts to humiliate the victims at the time of
the genocides — and to prolong this humiliation up to the present day
with cultural theft, trivialization and scape-goating — the dignity
of the victims and their descendants has, remarkably, remained intact.

Turkey’s genocidal crimes have gone unpunished. While continually
profiting from the homes, farms, lands, properties, institutions and
possessions confiscated in 1915, Turkey even accuses the victims
and survivors of the crimes that it itself committed. And media
elites portray ongoing survivor grievances as nuisances that impede
"progress."

It is the genocide deniers — the rulers and lobbies of the U.S.,
Turkey, Israel, and Azerbaijan — who are the ones impeding progress.

Their denial, duplicity and audacity do not mean that the genocides’
victims and their heirs have been defeated. Denying the truth does
not invalidate it. Fictional Turkish "reconciliation" initiatives
foisted upon Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks will never take the
place of genuine atonement and restitution, which are necessary for
true progress to be made.

To these deniers and obstructionists we say: "Your tactics are
transparent. The perpetrators, beneficiaries and enablers of the
ongoing genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek peoples
will be brought to justice. You can hide from the truth, but you
can’t hide the truth. We will persist, and the truth will prevail."

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

APRIL 16-22, 2010

HIGHLIGHTS:

ELEVEN TV COMPANIES OF ARMENIA SIGNED ETHICAL CHARTER

NATIONAL CENTER OF AESTHETICS BANNED THE SHOW OF THE FILM "CHOICE"

ELEVEN TV COMPANIES OF ARMENIA SIGNED ETHICAL CHARTER

On April 21 heads of 11 TV companies of Armenia signed Charter of Ethical
Principles of TV and Radio Broadcasters of the Republic of Armenia, upon the
initiative of the Public Council at the RA President. The document was
signed by "Hayrenik TV", "Hay TV", ATV, "AR", "DAR-21", "Yerevan", "Yerkir
Media", "Kentron", Public Television of Armenia, "Shant" and "Shoghakat". It
is expected that the Charter will be joined by five more TV channels.

YPC Comment: The wish of media to follow ethical norms is always
commendable, yet only when it is truly their wish and sincere commitment to
following professional standards. Also, when such initiatives are based on
an appropriate institutional base. In this very case the collective singing
of professional ethics norms by TV companies raises a number of questions.

Firstly, this initiative brings back the question: what is the status and
functions of the Public Council? In Armenia there are no naive people who
believe that this is an independent body capable of making its own public
initiatives, including those in media domain. If this is a consultative body
at the head of the state, its activities should be restricted to
recommendations to the President, with the latter making decisions within
his mandate. Yet the development of an ethical charter for TV channels is
not in the President’s mandate. If this is an organ of governing and
regulating, including broadcasting, its governing or regulating competence
should be stipulated by some law or other official act. Yet there are no
provisions of the kind. Therefore, the Charter, too, is nothing more but an
awkward attempt to actually influence television, coming from authorities,
but disguised as voluntary safeguarding of public interest by our
broadcasters. Such "dubiousness" cannot be productive by definition. There
should be a law enforced that complies with modern democratic standards.
Besides, the protection of public interest, rights of citizens can be
fostered only by an independent, voluntary and comprehensive media
self-regulation institute. When none of these components is present, no
surrogate initiatives can help the improvement of the TV quality.

Secondly, what has suddenly happened to our leading broadcasters that for
many years were denying the idea of unified professional standards and now
rush to sign the Charter all together?! This is certainly not the reputation
of the Public Council that affected them. It is just that our leading
broadcasters have grown so used to the role of obedient implementers that
they have learned to decipher the will "from the above" even with no direct
instructions. Their behavior becomes more topical now that the broadcast
licensing competitions are at hand.

Another question prompts itself: what is so bad about the Charter? In the
worst case scenario, nothing will change on our air, in the best one – a
couple of tasteless programs would disappear. Yet, unfortunately, such
initiatives are never harmless. Appearance of any, even, at first glance,
very weak illegitimate lever of influencing the media deteriorates the
freedom of expression in our country, which is poor as it is. And most
importantly, the replacement of real reforms in broadcasting by bad make-up
does little more than distantiate the prospect of improvement of Armenian TV
air.

Suppose such Charter, with the same initiators and signatories appeared two
years ago. Would we have the same unimpeded and immoral propaganda as during
the presidential election campaign of 2008 and particularly after what
happened on March 1? Would the authors of the document try to apply the
principles they now declare and stop that dirt torrent in the air? And how
and in what ways would they do that? Because this is when our media went on
to another circle of diminishing morals that gave a reason for both the
Charter and legislative initiatives to increase the responsibilities of
journalists. We shall leave these questions open for further debate.

NATIONAL CENTER OF AESTHETICS BANNED THE SHOW OF THE FILM "CHOICE"

The road show of the documentary "Choice", announced on April 16 at the hall
of the National Center of Aesthetics, was cancelled by the instructions of
the Center management. The producer and the scriptwriter of the film is
Tigran Paskevichian, member of Creative Board, Director of film and program
production of "Shoghakat" TV company. As Tigran Paskevichian informed YPC,
the documentary was shot with the assistance of US National Endowment for
Democracy Foundation within the project "The Wives of Repressed". The story
is about the families of political prisoners and the situation in Armenia
before and after the presidential elections 2008. According to Tigran
Paskevichian, the RA Ministry of Education and Science the ban was
determined by the Model Regulations of State Non-Commercial Organizations
which applies to state educational institutions, as well. The document
prohibits forming and running political and religion organizations in such
institutions. As to the journalist, the documentary, regardless of its
content, cannot be considered as "forming and running political and religion
organizations", therefore the restriction on its show runs counter Article
27 of RA Constitution, ensuring the freedom of expression, freedom to seek,
receive, and impart information. In the statement, released regarding the
ban of the film ""Choice", Tigran Paskevichian called upon the RA Ministry
of Culture to provide a hall for the film premiere.

In its turn, Levon Igitian, Director of the National Center of Aesthetics,
told YPC that the prior agreement on the premiere was made with the head of
the Center hall without his consent. According to Levon Igitian, as soon as
he learnt about that, he forbade the show of the film "Choice" for the
institution, engaged in aesthetic education of teenagers, cannot carry out
any other activities.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

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this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TO ADDRESS ARMENIANS TODAY

Tert.am
22.04.10

President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is expected to deliver an
address today in which he will elaborate on the decision made over
the Armenia-Turkey normalization.

It follows recent meetings among Armenian, Turkish and US officials
in Washington in the framework of the World Nuclear Security Summit.

Later on 20 April President Sargsyan visited his Russian counterpart
Dmitry Medvedev and discussed the range of issues, among them also
Armenia-Turkey normalization and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

On April 21 Sargsyan convened a National Security Council session
elaborating the members on the visits to Washington and Moscow.

Further the Council discussed recent developments over the
Armenia-Turkey normalization.
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MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
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From: Mihran Keheyian <[email protected]>
Subject: President Sargsyan to Address Armenians Today

President Sargsyan to Address Armenians Today

11:29 ? 22.04.10

President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, is expected to deliver an
address today in which he will elaborate on the decision made over the
Armenia-Turkey normalization.

It follows recent meetings among Armenian, Turkish and US officials in
Washington in the framework of the World Nuclear Security Summit.

Later on 20 April President Sargsyan visited his Russian counterpart
Dmitry Medvedev and discussed the range of issues, among them also
Armenia-Turkey normalization and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

On April 21 Sargsyan convened a National Security Council session
elaborating the members on the visits to Washington and Moscow.
Further the Council discussed recent developments over the
Armenia-Turkey normalization.

Tert.am