Author: Nalbandian Eduard

TURKEY’S OPPOSITION PARTY PROPOSES WITHDRAWING OF NORMALIZATION PROTOCOLS WITH ARMENIA

People’s Daily Online
March 23 2010
China

Turkey’s leading opposition party on Monday brought forward a motion
that requests a parliamentary session on withdrawing the country’s
normalization protocols with Armenia, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet
Daily News reported.

"There is no advantage but instead serious disadvantages of keeping
the protocols in the parliament," the newspaper cited the motion,
signed by key members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party,
as saying.

The motion came after a U.S. congressional panel and the Swedish
parliament passed resolutions that recognize the killings of Armenians
at Ottoman hands during the World War I as genocide this month.

Holding the normalization protocols at the parliament created
pressure on Turkey, while the current situation would inevitably have
destructive consequences on relations between Turkey and European
Union countries, says the motion.

Turkey and Armenia signed protocols to normalize relations last October
but they needed to be ratified by the two countries’ parliaments
before taking effect. The U.S. government has urged Turkey to approve
the protocols as soon as possible.

Turkey and Armenia have been bogged down in a row over the deaths of
Armenians under Ottoman rule during the World War I. Armenians claim
that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a systematic
genocide then, but the Turkish government insists the Armenians were
victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the Ottoman
empire collapsed before modern Turkey was created in 1923.

KAPAN’S SUNDAY SCHOOL SUBORDINATED TO ST. MESROP MASTOTS CHURCH TO CONTINUE OPERATING WITH SUPPORT OF OSCE

/lang/en
2010-03-23
KAPAN

OSCE has taken care for the one-year uninterrupted work of Kapan’s
Sunday school subordinated to St. Mesrop Mashtots Church.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE? QUESTION VEXES U.S. POLITICS
By Elizabeth Llorente

NorthJersey.com
http://www.northjersey.c om/news/88795352_Armenians_wait_and_wait.html
Marc h 22 2010

At the nursing home in Emerson, residents play bingo and cards. They
speak proudly of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. But
two things set this nursing home apart — the pain of the killing
of their relatives, and more than a million of their countrymen,
during World War I by Ottoman Turks and the frustration over the
U.S. government’s failure to condemn it as genocide.

Like many Armenian-Americans, the residents and officers of the
Armenian Nursing and Rehabilitation Center praise the recent passage
by a congressional committee of a non-binding resolution recognizing
the killings as genocide.

But the Obama administration — under pressure from Turkey —
is trying to keep the resolution from a full vote in the House of
Representatives, and the nursing home’s residents and officers said
they fear that, once again, they’ll see the U.S. government miss an
opportunity to condemn the killings as genocide.

"My grandmother always wore black because of the genocide," said Agnes
Kazanjian, who lived in Harrington Park until she became a resident
of the nursing home. "My father’s sister found out the Turks were
on their way to where she was and she committed suicide. What do I
think will happen next? Obama is saying ‘no.’ "

The Rev. Berj Gulleyan of the Armenian Presbyterian Church in Paramus
says most of his congregants have been touched, in one way or another,
by the mass killings. His congregants have included survivors, or
the descendants of survivors. He is a vocal supporter of the killings
being recognized by the United States, and the international community,
as genocide.

"We need to be the voice of the voiceless," Gulleyan said. "If the
United States can’t be that, we’ve lost something very special that
this country is known and respected for."

Scholars from around the world believe that some 1.5 million Armenians
died at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Those scholars, as well as many Armenians worldwide, say the deaths
were orchestrated by the Turks in pursuit of ethnic cleansing. They
say Armenians were forced to march to the Syrian desert without food or
water, and many — men, women and children — perished along the way.

Turkey long has denied that the deaths resulted from a genocide,
and say they were casualties of a civil conflict as the Ottoman
Empire collapsed.

"The Turkish empire did not deport or plan to kill Armenians,"
said Faruk Acar, a past vice president of the Federation of Turkish
American Associations in New York. (Turkish groups in North Jersey
either referred questions to Acar or could not be reached.) "They were
at war, on the side of the Russian Army, against the Ottoman Empire.

We tried to protect ourselves. Turkish people also got killed. That’s
the reality. What the Armenians say is propaganda."

Turkey recalled its envoy from Washington, D.C., following the
resolution vote in the House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign
Affairs. Turkish officials warned that the vote would hurt relations
between the United States and Turkey, as well as current diplomatic
talks between Turkey and Armenia.

"The resolution is ridiculous, it’s purely political," said Acar,
who lives in New York. "U.S. congressmen and senators make decisions
on their political future, they’re selfish. The Turkish people are
very proud of our history."

At the nursing home, which now also has non-Armenian residents,
several Armenians said their parents had been left orphaned by the
mass deaths during World War I.

The board vice president, Vatche Baghdikian, said the denial by the
Turks is hurtful.

"We are Christians, so we want to forgive," he said, his eyes filling
with tears. "But how do you forgive someone who will not admit what
happened? There was no civil war, people were just sitting in their
homes, they were at church, when they were dragged out and killed. We
want closure, we want to put this in the history record."

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-Monmouth, has another view. "Turkey is in
denial," said the sponsor of the House resolution and co-chairman of
the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.

Pallone said that it would be difficult to get the resolution put up
for a vote before the full House with President Obama and Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton lobbying against it but vowed to try to muster
the support to make it happen.

"To this day, Turkey continues to deny the Armenian genocide and its
own history," Pallone wrote in a statement.

"Mistreatment of the Armenians by the Turks is not a matter of a
distant and forgotten past. With world events as a reminder, history
lives with us."

Pallone said that the Bush and Clinton administrations also quashed
efforts to bring House committee resolutions for a full vote on the
House floor.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., also has been a vocal proponent of
a U.S. resolution calling the killings genocide.

"If we are to give meaning when we say at Holocaust observances ‘Never
again,’ if it’s to be more than words, then those words need to be
followed with action," said Menendez, "so that we don’t have another
Holocaust, another Armenian genocide, another Rwanda or Darfur."

BOX: FAST FACTS

Several countries have passed resolutions condemning the deaths of
more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World
War I as a genocide. Among them are Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Canada,
Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland and Poland.

On March 4, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed, by
a 23-22 vote, a resolution recognizing the Armenian killings as
genocide. Turkey then withdrew its ambassador to the United States.

On March 12, the Swedish Parliament passed a similar resolution, by
a 131-130 vote. Turkey promptly recalled its ambassador to Sweden,
and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reportedly has canceled a visit
there scheduled for Wednesday.

By the numbers

U.S. residents of Armenian and Turkish ancestry: Region Armenian
Turkish Total Bergen County 8,305 2,819 11,124 Passaic County
1,049 2,417 3,466 New Jersey 17,094 12,396 29,490 United States
385,488 117,575 503,063 Source: U.S. census

SAME ARMENIAN GENES, SAME BLOOD AND SAME DETERMINATION
by Tavit Asdvadzadourian

/2010-03-22-same-armenian-genes-same-blood-and-sam e-determination
Monday March 22, 2010

Montreal – Turkey’s quest for Armenians to forget what happened 95
years ago and their manipulative suggestion to let this touchy subject
to a handful of historians to discuss the matter in the next 95 years
in dark libraries or museums does not sit well with any Armenian
whose parents or grand parents survived the Genocide.

Armenians one day may forget the fact that Armenians had to pay extra
heavy taxes compared to a Muslim Turk just for being Armenian in the
Ottoman Empire, just to live on their own ancestral land that they have
lived for the last four centuries. Armenians may forget the fact that
they had to bow and look down when a Turk was facing them on a street,
in their own neighborhood in front of heir own house or a church.

Armenians may forget that they had to remove their holy crosses from
their churches that were build more than a thousand years ago when the
name or the notion of a Turk or a Muslim did not even exist. Armenians
may forget that Turks would come and rob them of their farm animals
and their hard earned wealth, but today’s Armenian will never forget
the intentional brutal mass murders and the killings of 1.5 million
of their innocent men, women and children.

Individuals sometimes pretend that they do not remember an incident
or an issue for the sake of convenience, they even call it a memory
blackout. Friends try to jog their memory with providing details
and circumstances.

Same behavior apparently is true for countries, or may be only one
particular country: Turkey, when it comes to not remembering the
Ottomans horrific crimes, the 20th century’s first genocide that was
committed 95 years ago. Other friendly countries, more than 20 now,
have continuously reminded Turkey and the world that there are more
than enough proof and information out there, staring from British,
US and European archives and yet modern Turkey s says ‘I do not
remember…’.

Turkey itself conducted its own investigation subsequent to intentional
killings and mass deportations of the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
and found large number of its government members including Talaat
Minister of the Interior, Enver Pasha Minister of War and Djemal Pasha
a high ranking Minister guilty of the above crimes in Turkish court and
yet after 95 years Turkey does not remember, total memory black out.

Armenians all over the world will never abandon their efforts to
finally one day attain the genocide recognition from Turley for the
brutal killings of 1.5 millions Armenians from the Anatolia. They
will never forget their ancestors who walked without water and food
in the Der Zhor desert, day and night, in the extreme desert heat,
carrying their children, they will never forget that they did not
abandon their hope, did not abandon the will to live and died only
when their weakened bodies gave up.

More and more countries are recognizing the mass deportations and
the brutal killings of the Armenians in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire as
genocide. Armenians are extremely grateful to all those countries ,
organizations and people . However, the end of the road for this
difficult and painful path comes only when Turkey recognizes the
events of the 1915 as Genocide.

While seniors member of Turkish government say that they are upset,
they are angry and they have been dishonored by even a mere discussions
of the Armenian Genocide in US, one wonders, what the Armenians who
died at the hand of the Ottomans would have said when they were shot
dead in groups, or when women were raped and murdered, or when young
kids were snatched away from their parents and forced to live as Turks,
or when young girls were taken as slave brides to Turkish men five
times their age , or when pregnant women were stabbed with knives
by Turks to check the sex of the unborn for the sake of a bet or a
gamble, or when women saw their whole family being executed brutally
in front of their eyes .

‘Leave the genocide history for the historians ‘ we keep hearing and
reading about this for a long time now. What does that means exactly?

It sound to me it means sweep it under the carpet and let it stay
there for another 100 years. The history of the Armenian Genocide
was already removed from the history books in Turkey, Turkish people
cannot find anything in their history books and keep asking for proof.

No wonder these poor Turkish people are surprised, shocked, stunned,
and even offended. All they need to do is look outside Turkey,
anywhere, in any country for historic information or look into the
Ottoman Empire Archives.

‘Turkey is a regional player, Turkey can not be pushed around’ we
keep hearing that too whenever the genocide recognition issue comes up.

Does that mean they can get away for crimes against humanity in this
civilized world? To have zero problems with neighbors Turkey have
to solve its problems, because problems do not die of natural causes
after 95 years.

It is time for Turkey to stop playing games, recalling its ambassadors
from Sweden, from USA while knowing very well that they are going
back. It is time now for Turkey to grow up, to look into the mirror,
accept that dark past and look forward to make things right. Armenians
may sound so stubborn in their quest for the recognition of the
genocide, but the world can be surprised how easily Armenians will
forgive the Turks if Turkey finally admits that what the Ottomans
did amounts to genocide.

Turkey is angry that the Genocide issue is coming up, year after year
all over the world and especially in the US, their close ally and
supporter. This perseverance characteristic of the Diaspora comes from
the survival instinct of the Armenians. Turkey should not forget that
the Diaspora who is bringing the Genocide issue to the international
community constantly, are mostly the direct off springs of those
who walked the Der Zhor desert day and night, in the extreme heat,
hungry, thirsty, beaten and wounded. The have the same Armenian genes,
same blood and same determination.

THOSE UNITED UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE COALITION’S LOVE
Ara Galoyan

March 20, 2010

"The government consists of a prime minister and ministers," reads
the constitution of Armenia. It is defining the provision but does
not explain why. Instead of that the fifth clause of the Constitution
explains the policies of the government. It is written well but there
is no need to read as they have nothing to do with the reality. For
example, in the fourth clause of the 55th article of the Constitution
it is written that "the president appoints and dismisses the members
of the government based on the recommendation of the prime minister."

It means that according to the existing laws the PM has a large scope
of rights and powers. The PM has recommended a government consisting of
18 ministers and is organizing a session every month with participation
of these people and they call it a "government session".

They discuss domestic and other issues of foreign policy at such
sessions. All they try to overcome the impact of the world crisis. But
the real picture is quite different and very strange though. For
example, two months ago the PM came to work in the morning and
was informed that there had been changes in the government and the
Prosperous Armenia party had nominated a candidate to replace one
of their ministers. The PM agreed with that change and continued to
handle the important issues of the state with this new staff. However,
the change that happened two days ago cannot be logical at all. The
Legal State party replaced two of its ministers. They said that this
issue had been agreed with the president as they are a political team
and it is important for them to agree the nomination of new people in
high rank positions with the president. It is a brilliant idea. There
is no word about the policy established by the Constitution and the
role of the prime minister. Even more, it seems that the president’s
consent is just a formal detail for them as well. It is important
for them but not decisive. Now let’s imagine that they may take out
a piece of paper and put a stamp on it, give to t someone and say
that hence he can be the minister of transport but it is important to
get the president’s consent first. It is not serious to demand more
from this government which is working in such conditions, or more
literally said at such level of political culture. The government
develops projects as a group of managers or a political body. Later
the ministers go to ministries, make a timeline, schedule, work
distribution and give orders to their staff. But the next day the
minister’s party is sending someone else to work in the same position.

The only thing the prime minister should do now is to introduce these
new guys to the government and then take their hand and take to the
ministries to introduce to the staff of the ministries. The PM does
not even have a right to reprimand the ministers because this minister
may go back to the party and organize a press conference and say that
he is not going to resign because he is accountable to his party only.

Their own and beloved party backs them, as it was done with the
minister of agriculture. Based on the processes of the last days
it is not hard to assume that the government is not a united body of
managers or politicians. The minister of economy tried to announce that
the economic crisis was up to ending. One of the coalition leaders
openly said that he did not agree with this announcement and made
some remark. "We are advising that Gagik Tsarukyan gives estimation
to the PA member ministers." There were other remarks as well. The
prime minister tried to make them come down and said that there are
shortcomings in all ministries. In fact he sees these shortcomings
but does not have an opportunity to overcome those shortcomings. In
consideration of the fact that the prime minister is working in such
hard conditions of the coalition, we should give a break for one
month and keep from criticizing him during this month.

MADE IN USA
Yeghishe Metsarents

rahos17240.html
12:58:59 – 22/03/2010

The Russian "Vesti" news program informs that the mark "Made
in USA" will soon become history because under the conditions of
globalization, the greater part of the American goods is produced out
of the U.S. borders. The example, the Russian channels brings is the
Levi’s jeans, the last pair of which was produced in the U.S. in 2003,
and now the company produces jeans in Asia and Latin America. As the
Russian channel notes even baseball balls are produced out of the U.S.

The channel concludes that soon the U.S. flag will stop being American
either because the 1, 5 percent of its production takes place abroad.

This information is really interesting. Once again, the thesis on
the oldness of the perception of a state is confirmed. On the other
hand, in reality, the modernity of the perception of a "state" and
its permanent vitality is confirmed. The fact, that if a state is
unable to solve essential problems does not mean that the concept of a
"state" became old or lost its significance and role, is confirmed. A
state is the one which is able to clearly formulate its interests
making them clear to all the people who want to live in accord with
this interest as well as it manages to imagine what interest they
personally have from the life built around that axis.

The U.S. perhaps, gives the best example of it. Not the American
production is fused with the world, as the Russian TV tries to present,
but the world is mixed with the American production. In other words,
"Made in USA" does not disappear but broadens its borders. This is
the classic example of formulating state interests, posing problems
and solving them. The U.S. does not reach this through propaganda
manipulations, emperor-worship, like in case of Russia, but showed
clearly to its people that it is the most powerful country in the
world. In addition, the expression of their success was not in words
but in actions. Of course, there were failures too. But the fact is
that their correlation, even after the September 11 terror, Iraq war,
Afghan war, economic crisis, did not bring about a situation, when
the American society perceives its country as a stranger structure
to its problems.

RUSSIA’S JAVAKHQ-ARMENIANS PREPARING TO PROTEST

Tert.am
22.03.10

Russia’s Javakhq-Armenian community have, on numerous occasions,
appealed to Georgian authorities and international organizations,
drawing their attention to the issues of Javakhq-Armenians and
Georgia’s ethnic minorities. However, nothing has changed, according
to a release issued by the Javakhq-Armenian community in Russia.

Javakhq-Armenians are disappointed that European and North Atlantic
democratic institutions are turning a blind eye to their issues.

As noted in the release, Russia’s Javakhq-Armenian community is
preparing to organize protest demonstrations which will continue
until clear actions have been taken to stop violating the rights and
freedoms of ethnic minorities in the Samtskhe-Javakhq-Tsalka region
and in Georgia in general.

The Javakhq-Armenian community in Russia is calling on Georgia’s
opposition parties and NGOs that protect the rights and interests
of Georgia’s ethnic minorities, as well as international bodies to
support them and join their protest rallies.

Javakhq is a region in Georgia with a large ethnic Armenian
population. There have been several protests and clashes with police
about the treatment of Javakhq-Armenians, who say they have experienced
discrimination and their rights violated by the Georgian authorities.

Turkey has no moral right to impose any conditions on Armenia

20.03.2010 11:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discussions on the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide are not new in the political life of the United States of
America, Armenian President said.

`Several times at least in the past 10 years, the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the House of Representatives has tried to vote on the
resolution,’ Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with Euronews.

`Forty-two states in the US have recognized the events as Genocide, so
the resolution vote on March 4 is neither a surprise nor a new thing
for us,’ he said.

Asked whether he thinks of any particular reason for date of voting on
the resolution in the context of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation,
President Sargsyan said, `We are currently in discussions with Turkey
on the issue of re-establishing our relations. This should be done
without any preconditions, and I think that Turkey has no moral right
to blame us about anything or to impose any conditions.
Re-establishing relations without preconditions means we are not under
any obligations to stay away from any of the possible topics. Let’s
say that, by some miracle, the Turkish Parliament ratifies the
protocols, the Armenian Parliament does the same, we re-establish our
relations and a third country, which is against us re-establishing our
relations, on purpose takes up the Genocide issue. Will the Turks,
therefore, use this as a pretext and break off relations?’

Responding to a question whether Armenia’s major problems –
unemployment, economic isolation and long- running disputes with
Turkey and Azerbaijan – can be more easily solved now, the Armenian
President stated, `Our difficulties with Turkey did not begin
yesterday. For 17 years, Turkey has kept the Armenian border under
blockade. Was there such a resolution 17 years ago? We fully
understand that Turkey is a big country – in terms of population,
territory and power… vastly bigger than Armenia. And if we lived apart
from each other we would [also] understand. But since Armenia and
Turkey are part of the international community, and the United States,
France and the European Union are too, then the international
community must assess the developments and situations as they unfold.’

As to the fact that Yerevan State University awarded an honorary
degree to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who denies the
Armenian Genocide, President Sargsyan noted, `You know, we cannot
oblige our neighbors to think as we do. One should not narrow things
down to a single person. To bestow upon the leader of a country an
honorific reward signifies an expression of gratitude and recognition
towards the people of that country. The Iranians have been our
neighbors for centuries and they are very important to us. I would
consider it as a particular approach by the State University of
Yerevan towards a particular issue, an approach quite current in
Europe and in the democratically developed countries of the world.’

PROJECT FOR MITIGATING LAND DEGRADATION AND REDUCING POVERTY IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS DISCUSSED

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.03.2010 20:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ REC Caucasus organized the first Meeting of the
Steering Committee on "Sustainable Land Management for Mitigating Land
Degradation and Reducing Poverty in the South Caucasus Region" Project
in all 3 countries of South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The need of regional cooperation in combating desertification has been
stressed at the International Conference on the Issues of Draught and
Desertification in the Countries of the South Caucasus hosted by REC
Caucasus in 2002. Even though desertification has intensified over the
past years in the South Caucasus region, no measures have been taken
at the regional level to address this problem. The program launched
in 2009 year and covers Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The overall objective of the project is to ensure continued ecosystem
functions and integrity, reduce poverty and enhance food security
and income for rural farmers in the South Caucasus countries by
combating desertification, strengthening the natural resource base
and revitalizing the agricultural sector.

The meetings were attended by representatives of REC Caucasus
and CENN, organizations implementing the above mentioned project,
"Ruzgar" (partner organization in Azerbaijan), "Green Lane" (partner
organization in Armenia), and members of steering committee. The
members of steering committee represented the authorities, NGOs and
scientific circles involved in the project.

REC Caucasus representatives made the presentation on "Sustainable
Land Management for Mitigating Land Degradation and Reducing Poverty
in the South Caucasus Region" Project: its goals, objectives,
expected results etc. The Committee members were familiarized with
their duties, in particular to provide consultation to the project
national coordinator, to monitor the project implementation and to
facilitate implementation of the project at the governmental level.

Implemented activities in 2009-2010 years and future work plan were
also presented to the Committee members. The Steering Committee Members
discussed the Project work plan for 2009/2010 years and made several
comments, especially they stressed the necessity of deeper research
of soil in the Region.

In Armenia the Committee members stressed the need for the strategy of
agriculture development which will be the guideline for the future
activities. On the meeting of Azerbaijan Steering Committee the
problem of the lack of knowledge in the region about the rational
use of land for agriculture was mentioned. The elaboration of the
guidelines for the soil research was named as one of the most crucial
issues in Georgia.

The next meeting was scheduled for late May.

ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN SETS UP A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY THE CONSEQUENCES OF RISE OF THE GAS TARIFF IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2010-03-17 10:15:00

ArmInfo. ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party has set up a group to study
consequences of the expected rise of the gas tariff in Armenia.

Artsvik Minasyan, parliamentarian from ARFD Party faction, Vice
Chairman of the National Assembly Commission for Finance and Budget,
told the parliament on Wednesday that the working group is studying
variety of issues and expects the government to give answers to its
questions. The first issue is tariffs. "If 1000 cu m of gas supplied
to Armenia will cost $180 on the border starting April 1, why the
tariff for industrial enterprises is envisaged to rise to $243 and
for privates to $340. For comparison, Moldova is purchasing gas for
$260 and sells it for $320. We would like to know the grounds for
such price difference in Armenia," A. Minasyan says. "Another issue
is sale of gas at gas compressor stations. In foreign countries these
stations sell gas per kg, whereas in Armenia the tariff depends on
the pressure of gas. Naturally, the volume of gas will change with
air temperature," he said. He highlighted that subscribers in Armenia
have no opportunity to choose their service company, which creates
another price burden for consumers. A. Minasyan outlined that sealing
of gas meters has not been completed in the country, which testifies
to shady supply of gas," A. Minasyan said.