Author: Nalbandian Eduard

PRESS RELEASE
April 27, 2010

Armenian Youth Federation – Western Region
104 North Belmont, Suite 206
Glendale, California 91206
Telephone: (818) 507-1933
Mobile: (323) 823-1905

Contact: Azniv Khararjian
Tel: 323-823-1905
Email: [email protected]

Armenian Youth to Revamp Streets of Hollywood in 7th Annual Little Armenia
Beautification Project

LOS ANGELES–The Armenian Youth Federation is gearing up for its seventh
annual Little Armenia Beatification Project when hundreds of volunteers are
expected to mobilize in a unified effort to once again revitalize the
streets of Hollywood. Among the most highly anticipated events in the
Armenian community in South California, the project is set to take place
this Sunday, May 2nd.

"With Los Angeles home to one of the largest Armenian communities outside
the Republic of Armenia, the Little Armenia Beautification Project has
become an effective way for the youth to give back to their community in
what many Armenians call their ‘home away from home,” said AYF Chairman
Arek Santikian

According to estimates by the City of Los Angeles Sanitation Department
almost 30,000 pounds of trash have been removed from the streets thanks to
the efforts of dedicated Armenian youth. Much like last year, event
volunteers will be removing trash from the streets, planting trees and
removing graffiti, in a concentrated effort to beautify the area.

The opening ceremony will commence at 10:00 am at the Rose and Alex Pilibos
Armenian School, located on Alexandria Ave. Before hitting the streets,
volunteers will participate in a formal program that includes an address by
California State Assembly Member Kevin de Leon and other honored guests. The
clean-up will last until 3:00 pm.

Committed to engaging Armenian youth in the Little Armenia community, the
AYF Hollywood Musa Dagh Chapter is hosting this year’s organized cleanup. To
chapter Chairwoman, Maria Maadanian, the Project serves many purposes.
`Little Armenia is symbolic to us all as Armenians living in the Diaspora,’
said Maadanian. `It is our responsibility to give back to the entire
Hollywood community by making it a cleaner and better place to live.’

`It’s our home away from home and it is our job to respect it, and take care
of it, any way we can,’ she added.

Every year, for the past six years, the AYF has rounded up Armenian youth
from across California and the western United States to give back to this
community. This one-day campaign has also attracted volunteers from Arizona,
Nevada and Texas to make the trip to Los Angeles and help the AYF remove
thousands of pounds of trash from the streets in Little Armenia.

With chapters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations
around the world, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) is the largest and
most influential Armenian American youth organization. Inspired by the past
and motivated by the needs of the future, the AYF actively strives to
advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of all
Armenian youth.

####

CHP DEPUTY SEEKS RESIDENCE PERMIT FOR ARMENIAN PATIENT

Today’s Zaman
April 26 2010
Turkey

In a surprising move, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Ä°zmir deputy
Canan Arıtman, known for previous offensive remarks about Armenians,
has petitioned Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to grant a residence
permit to a sick Armenian man.

Arıtman’s request came on Saturday during talks on a
government-sponsored constitutional amendment package. She approached
Erdogan in Parliament and asked him something quietly. When asked what
she had spoken of with him, Arıtman said: "I asked him to grant a
permanent residence permit for Armenian Arthur Manukyan, who suffers
from moyamoya disease [an inherited disease in which certain arteries
in the brain are constricted]. Today is April 24 [Armenian Remembrance
Day], and I wanted to show how noble the Turkish nation is."

Thousands of undocumented Armenian immigrants currently live in
Ä°stanbul, where many settled after an earthquake in their homeland
in 1988. The exact number of Armenian immigrants in Turkey is unknown,
but Turkish-Armenian groups say Turkish politicians inflate the numbers
of illegal workers and threaten expulsions whenever tensions escalate
between Ankara and Yerevan.

Erdogan reportedly told her in response that he would look into the
issue. Arıtman’s move was surprising as she previously drew public
ire for her suggestion of deporting Armenian workers in Turkey.

Also in late 2008, Arıtman criticized Gul for not objecting to an
apology campaign launched by Turkish intellectuals over the killings
of Anatolian Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915,
which Armenians claim constituted genocide. Arıtman said Gul was
rubberstamping the campaign because of his ethnic origins. "We see
that the president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gul should be the
president of the entire Turkish nation, not just of those sharing his
ethnicity. Investigate the ethnic origins of the president’s mother
and you will see," she said. Arıtman drew ire with her comments,
with some critics accusing her of racism.

AHMET DAVUTOGLU: "TURKEY IS FULLY COORDINATING ITS POLICIES WITH AZERBAIJAN"

APA
April 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. "The occupied territories of Azerbaijan will be the top
issue on the agenda of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his
upcoming visit to Turkey.

Turkey sees this issue as our own problem and we are trying to keep
this issue on agenda everywhere. Turkey is fully coordinating
its policies with Azerbaijan and nobody can deal a blow to
Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship. Everyone should know it very well",
said Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu in his address to the
Turkish parliament on April 26. "Turkey’s relationship with Armenia
will normalize in the same way as with other countries. We want to
realize it. In parallel, Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict will find
its solution by ending the occupation of Azerbaijani lands. The
Armenia-Azerbaijan border will also open just as the Turkey-Armenia
border opens… That is our perspective of peace. It means that there
will be a corridor from Erzrum to Central Asia".

The minister said Turkey has the right to take "necessary precautions"
if the protocols were interpreted against their spirit. He said
the parliaments would ratify the protocols while relevant political
situation was created. Davutoglu said dynamics were created on the eve
of 24 April as it was every year and Turkey showed necessary reaction
to that. "Mr. Sargsyan recently announced that he had frozen the
process concerning the ratification of the protocols with Turkey but
made it clear that he had not permanently suspended the normalization
process. For his part, the parliaments will ratify the protocols once
political conditions were ripe".

Davutoglu said Turkey was not an ordinary country and Ankara was
taking deep interest in the developments in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia. "We don’t want status quo to continue in the Caucasus because
it is not in favor of fraternal Azerbaijan, Armenia or Georgia and
Russia and Iran as well. But there were not brave actions to change
this status quo. Our purpose is to change this status quo in right
direction. The stone has already moved from the place and it should
be set in its place that it can bring peace and stability to the
Caucasus. This is our purpose".

V. OSKANIAN "IT IS NO TIME TO GLOAT"

A1Plus.am
26/04/10

Armenia’s ex Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian comments on the recent
developments in the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process.

"From the very beginning, it was evident that this unwanted peace
process could not extend and the authorities would have to admit the
reality one day," said Mr. Oskanian.

The ex foreign minister is surprised at two things in the process.

"First, Armenian authorities today openly announce that they heard
Turkey setting preconditions to Armenia’s detriment for a year. And
for a year our authorities stated that the protocols carry no
preconditions. Moreover, they hailed the process and considered it an
unprecedented diplomatic victory in the history of Armenia. Second,
of numerous solutions the authorities chose the most unfavourable
for Armenia."

Turkey has no commitments in view of the border opening until the
Karabakh conflict is settled. Turkey sought to relieve of the burden
from the beginning. With its decision to suspend the protocols,
Armenia did what Turkey had longed for at the same time enabling
Turkey to be actively involved in the Karabakh conflict settlement."

Mr. Oskanian calls everyone’s attention to further developments of
Armenian-Turkish relations in the context of Karabakh issue. "The
authorities claim to be proceeding with the negotiations. But it is
no time to gloat or prove one’s veracity. Everything is obvious. The
negotiations are a failure and the situation should be recovered even
at the expense of political changes."

Mr. Oskanian urges Armenian authorities to display courage and face
the reality in the Karabakh issue. The sides’ indiscreet policy has
led Armenian-Turkish relations to a deadlock. These new tendencies can
further deteriorate the delicate situation and darken the possibility
of positive developments.

SPEECH BY AMBASSADOR OF ARMENIA IN THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS GAGIK GALACHYAN AT THE POLITICAL GATHERING IN PASYDY HALL NICOSIA – CYPRUS, AT THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
by Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

mp;page_id=123&path=123
Saturday April 24 2010

Nicosia – 95 years ago, the days of April 1915 were carved with
bloody letters in the memory and the age-old history of the Armenian
people, writing its darkest and most tragic page. The Young Turks’
government of the Ottoman Empire set in motion the barbaric state
plan for the mass extermination of Armenians, which itself and its
equally bloodthirsty predecessors had adopted, a plan today known as
the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

In order to eliminate even the name and every trace of Armenians on
their historical homeland, they exterminated an entire people and
razed the once thriving towns and villages to the ground. They set on
fire rich centres, monasteries and temples, and important treasures
that the Armenian nation created with toil and with its soul on its
fatherland’s sacred soil.

Just a handful of people, those fortunate enough to survive, followed
the sad route of displacement, and in the next years they formed, in
dozens of countries, the Armenian Diaspora. An important part found
refuge in the hospitable arms of the sharing the same religion and
fortune Greek-Cypriots, for whose country, already from the 19th
century, an Armenian poet wrote "There is no other island like
our Cyprus". In this incomparable island, also tried by Turkish
hostility, live and work until today the few descendants of the
Genocide survivors, contributing to the prosperity of the country
located in this beautiful part of the world. We, Armenians, are
grateful to our Cypriot friends, for their centuries-old affinity
and support that today is formed with the effective co-operation of
the two friendly countries.

In fact, today we jointly pay tribute to the memory of innocent
victims of the Genocide, joining our voice with Armenians around the
world and the entire civilised humankind. As elsewhere, in Cyprus too,
commemoration ceremonies are yet another resounding statement that the
Genocide of the Armenian people, perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire,
is one of the greatest crimes against humanity.

At the same time, they remind us that the entire international
community has so far not recognised and condemned this crime, something
which would constitute a guarantee for the prevention and punishment
of the crime of genocide. About twenty countries of the world have
recognised and condemned the Armenian Genocide, but also hundreds
of legislative and executive bodies of cities, regions and states,
as well as numerous international organizations.

The Republic of Cyprus has already done it, 35 years ago, during these
April days, by a special resolution of the Parliament, with which it
not only recognised and condemned the crime perpetrated against the
Armenians, the extermination and deprivation of their homeland, but
also expressed its support for the full restoration of the rights of
the Armenian people. This is why Armenians remain thankful to their
loyal friend, the people of Cyprus.

We have no doubt that, certainly, the number of countries recognising
and condemning the Genocide will increase. We are convinced that,
sooner or later, Turkey will recognise it too, as the acknowledgement
of the ancestors’ trespass is necessary, to begin with, for the Turkish
people themselves and their country, which aspires to be incorporated
to the European civilisation.

The Armenian people, although they lost the greatest part of their
historical homeland and underwent a barbarous uprooting, continue to
live today and create in the young Republic of Armenia, the liberated
– after the war that was imposed upon it, with a victorious outcome –
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and the Armenian Diaspora. By regaining its
national sovereignty and by establishing the new, stable and powerful
state, the Republic of Armenia has become a full and respected member
of the international family of people, a reliable partner that plays
all the more an essential role in the international scene.

The Armenian people, who thanks to their unbending faith and their
power of will managed to survive the Genocide, did not have any other
option, after the terrible destruction fate had in store for them,
than to struggle, to strengthen their new state entity and to claim
their rights, by unifying parts separated by the storms of history.

Today, honouring the memory of the innocent victims, we urge
the present and future generations of all peoples of the advanced
world, to remember what happened, in order to avert and prevent the
possibility of it being repeated, in any corner of the world should
this danger emerge.

BARACK OBAMA’S APRIL 24 MESSAGE PUT BOTH ARMENIANS AND TURKS IN A FUME: ARMENIAN EXPERT

ArmInfo
2010-04-26 13:08:00

ArmInfo. U.S. President Barack Obama’s April 24 message on the
occasion of the Day of Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide put
both Armenians and Turks in a fume, Director of the Armenian Center
for National and International Studies Richard Giragosyan told ArmInfo.

According to him, Obama’s message caused disappointment of Armenians
all over the world. As he said, this time again, the US president
could not give right characteristics to the events of 1915 in his
traditional message. According to him, the most interesting is that
not only the memory of all the generations of Armenians but also the
American history have been insulted, since US president has broken
his promise he gave during his election campaign, and he ignores
the historical data guided by geopolitical reasons. However, the
expert emphasized the necessity to admit that Obama made a number of
references to the Genocide in his statement, without using the word
"genocide", and roundly condemned Turkey.

According to Giragosyan, that was the reason for Turkey’s so negative
response. The expert thinks that President Obama has actually lost both
Turkey and Armenia by his statement. As the expert said, the statement,
which excluded the word "genocide" in order to soften the corners,
put Armenians in a fume. At the same time, the statement was quite
strong for Turkey to put the Turks in a fume. R. Giragosyan added
that all this negatively affects the U.S. government.

news.am, Armenia
April 24 2010

Armenians perished on road out of famine and disease: Hurriyet Daily

17:38 / 04/24/2010 NEWS.am posts excerpts from Mustafa Akyol article in
Hurriyet Daily News.

`Ninety-five years ago, on this very day, a dark episode began in the
crumbling Ottoman Empire. Around 250 Armenian intellectuals and
community leaders were arrested in Istanbul and deported to Anatolia,
never to return.

The real catastrophe began a month later. Armenians were the real
target. Soon, in almost every city and town in eastern Anatolia, they
were forced out of their homes and destined to the far and arid Syria.
In some places, they were transported by trains, but most were forced
to march for hundreds of kilometers, often without food and water.
Many perished on the road, out of famine, dehydration and disease.
(The photos showing these victims, especially the starving children
and babies, are painful for anyone with a conscious.) In other cases,
there were massacres committed by the locals, driven either by hatred
or the lust to confiscate the victim’s properties.

In total, at least 600,000 Armenians, and probably more, perished in
1915, in one of history’s most tragic ethnic cleansings. I, as a
Muslim Turk, feel only pain and remorse for those tortured souls,
whose memory deserves remembrance and respect. Yet, the same memory
also leads me to ask why this great catastrophe took place, and how my
nation created it.

A combination of fear and nationalism, as I understand, was the
driving force. In 1915, the Ottomans were at war on three deadly
fronts (with the British and the French at Gallipoli and the Middle
East, and with Russia on the East), and Armenians were increasingly
seen as in league with the enemy. The Ottoman elite, and especially
the Balkan-originated Young Turks, had seen how the Greeks or
Bulgarians ethnically cleansed great portions of their Muslim
populations during their national uprisings. Now they feared the same
thing would happen in Anatolia, with an independent Armenia emerging
under Russian tutelage.

But now, I believe, is the time to be fairer. For our part, I think we
Turks have made a terrible mistake for decades by totally overlooking
the enormous suffering that the Armenian people went through in 1915.’

Agence France Presse
April 22, 2010 Thursday 1:30 PM GMT

Turkish PM sticks to condition for Armenia reconciliation

Ankara, April 22 2010

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday Turkey remained
faithful to peace with Armenia, but insisted on conditions for
reconciliation after Yerevan suspended a historic accord.

"We have expressed on several occasions our commitment to the letter
and spirit of the protocols and the target of putting them into
practice," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

"We have also explained on several occasions… how the ratification
process can be advanced and how we can achieve the target of
comprehensive peace in the region. Our determination remains
unchanged," he added.

Erdogan’s reference to regional peace reflects Turkey’s position that
peace efforts with Armenia cannot go forward without progress in
Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan — a close Turkish ally — over the
enclave of Nagorny-Karabakh.

Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan after ethnic Armenian separatists, backed by Yerevan,
seized the Nagorny-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts
from Baku in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

Armenia’s ruling coalition announced earlier Thursday that it was
halting ratification of the peace accord on account of Turkey’s
refusal to ratify the text "without preconditions and in a reasonable
timeframe."

The coalition, which holds the majority in parliament, described as
"unacceptable" recent statements by Erdogan linking the process of
ratifying the protocols to the Nagorny-Karabakh dispute.

A Turkish diplomat said earlier Thursday that Ankara was studying what
steps to take next following Yerevan’s announcement.

"We are evaluating the content of this (Armenian) statement and what
it means" legally and politically, foreign ministry spokesman Burak
Ozugergin told AFP.

"In this context, we are also discussing steps that could be taken in
the coming period," he added, without elaborating.

Turkey and Armenia signed a deal in October to establish diplomatic
ties and open their border in a step towards ending decades of
hostility over Armenian allegations that Ottoman Turks committed
genocide against Armenians — which Turkey rejects.

The deal — comprised of two protocols — needs parliamentary
ratification to come into effect, but the reconciliation process has
since stalled with both sides questioning each others’ commitment to
peace.

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE WELCOMES ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S DECISION

ArmInfo
2010-04-23 11:13:00

ArmInfo. "President Sargsian’s announcement makes clear that Armenia
has not ended the process but has suspended it until the Turkish side
is ready to move forward", the statement by Assistant Secretary for
European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon says.

"We applaud President Sargsian’s decision to continue to work towards
a vision of peace, stability, and reconciliation. We believe that
the normalization process carries important benefits for Turkey and
Armenia as well as the wider Caucasus region. We continue to urge
both sides to keep the door open to pursuing efforts at reconciliation
and normalization", P. Gordon emphasized.

To recall, on April 22, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsian signed
a decree on suspension of the process of ratification of the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

RAFFI HOVHANNISYAN: "PERFECT STRATEGIC STEP IN PRESENT CONDITIONS"

Panorama.am
23/04/2010

"Th is statement occurred to be a perfect strategic step in these
conditions, but a good leader should let such things to happen," Raffi
Hovhannisyan, the chairman of "Heritage" party commented on Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to suspend the ratification
process of Armenian-Turkish protocols.

According to him the partial withdrawal of the protocols would
encourage the parliaments and executive bodies of foreign countries
to recognize Armenian Genocide.

Hovhannisyan said if the process is alived and the protocols are
ratified the issue of recognizing Armenian Genocide won’t be discussed
by the international community ever.

Raffi Hovhannisyan said that President’s yesterday address to people
was very decisive, like his speech in Deyr Zore and Woodrow Wilson’s
tomb.

Hovhannisyan stated that "precondition to reject genocide recognition,
de jure recognition of illegal de facto border, judicial ratification
of genocide consequences and linking of the issue with NK conflict
are included in the protocols."