Author: Nalchajian Markos

DIFFICULT WEEK IN APRIL: 94 YEARS LATER
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net

Will the Armenian side be able to have her own way and to convince
the Turkish and all the other interested parties in the fact that a
dialogue is possible only without preconditions? 25.04.2009 GMT+04:00

The week started with just another visit of the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-chairs to the region. In fact, there was nothing new, except
the regular dim statements about the speedy regulation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, peace and stability in the region and
prosperity. The MG statements are sometimes quite like the reports
of the secretaries of city committees, issued to higher authorities:
everything is good; sure there are discrepancies, deficiencies, but
everything can be improved. The cochairmen’s route is also traditional:
Yerevan-Baku-Yerevan-Stepanakert-Yere van- Baku, with some variations.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ But the interesting point is that Official Baku has
not ever protested against this route and has not sent notes to the
Departments of Foreign Policy of France, USA or Russia, complaining
of the "illegal crossing of the boundary". Almost as Orwell says:
all are equal, but some are more equal than others. But this just
in passing. The diplomats arrived simply in order to once more make
sure the Presidents did not change their minds about the encounter
in Prague due on May 7, although it is incomprehensible, how they
could have done so…

But the basic news of the week came on the night of April 22-23, when
the agreement between Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Turkey was
promulgated, with the mediation of the Swiss Foreign Ministry about
a certain road map on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish
relations. The most interesting point is that the very text of
the agreement cannot even be called a text in view of its unusual
brevity. However, this gave rise to different kinds of commentaries
and interpretations, especially in the Azeri press. The latter began
to speak of various kinds of "leakages", having nothing in common with
the reality. By the way, the lie was so transparent that refutations
appeared in the same Azerbaijani press already the next day… And the
matter concerned some assumed five clauses, which Armenia allegedly had
to carry out, so that Turkey would graciously open the boundary. By the
way, it was exactly the complete lack of information of the population
of Armenia about the content of the agreement that became the reason
for various kinds of commentaries, quite far from the reality too. It
is completely understandable that each of the parties in this game
is trying to outwit the other, but the question is to what extent
the Armenian side will be able to have her own way and to convince
the Turkish and all the other interested parties in the fact that a
dialogue is possible only without preconditions. Especially when the
question stands quite clear for Armenia: to be or not to be.

And finally – the annual April 24 address of the US President Barack
Obama, an address that everybody had been waiting for with some morbid
feeling: will he utter the Word or not?

That small percentage of Armenians, who knew for sure that the US
President would avoid the word "genocide" in his address, can sigh
with relief. But Barack Obama did even worse; he actually legalized
the Armenian word for the Genocide "Mets Yeghern", which caught the
entire world, including Turkey. It would be nave of us to think
that he used this word-combination by pure accident. He, or to be
more accurate, his speechwriters saved face: the word is not uttered,
but a curtsey is made to Armenians. And in this connection again the
question arises: how long the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is
going to be the basic, if not the unique priority of foreign policy
of the Armenian state?

It is appropriate to recall that before the promulgation of the
joint statement of the Armenian and Turkish MFAs, for some reason
majority of Armenians thought Obama would certainly repeat what he
said being a Senator and a Presidential candidate. If we do not seize
on words and definitions, the US President kept his promise. The
extent of truthfulness of this assertion can confirm the fact
that Turkey considers the words "Mets Yeghern" and "Genocide" to be
synonyms. Well, something like "the catastrophe of the European Jews"
and the "Holocaust". By the way, in their statement of petition for
the events of 1915 the Turkish intelligentsia used almost the same
expressions. Besides, Turkish diplomat, Ambassador Yalim Eralp said,
"Mets Yeghern" indicates "genocide". Moreover, the Foreign Ministry
of Turkey severely criticized Obama’s address, finding his statements
unacceptable. As for Abdullah Gul, there are some moments in Obama’s
speech with which he cannot agree. "In 1915 hundred thousands of
Turks and Moslems lost their lives. With this regard it is necessary
to share the pain of all those who died", stated President Gul.

However, the matter is not in concepts, but in the legal
aspect. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide leads to the claims of
moral and material compensation for the Armenian nation to be awarded
by Turkey as the assignee of the Ottoman Empire. So many times has
all this been said that it is no more taken seriously. The worst that
could happen, has happened: recognition of the Armenian Genocide has
become an exchange card, a political tool, a method of pressure and
anything else, but a requirement of justice.

However, Obama’s address was best commented by a person, far from
politics, namely Armen Jigarkhanyan: "What we expect is not a matter of
political angle. The importance of the persona of Obama is a temporary
concept, while the problem of recognition of the Armenian Genocide has
existed for 94 years. Will Obama pronounce the word "genocide" or not
is not so important. Our relation to today’s state of affairs is the
most important. This is a matter to be approached with an open soul
and a sober mind; there is no place for emotions here." According to
Armen Jigarkhanyan, each person that speaks about recognition of the
Genocide must think about how competent he is in this issue. "Each
Armenian has the right to require recognition of the Genocide, at
the same time caring for the possibility of establishing diplomatic
relations between Armenia and Turkey", he said.

Hürriyet , Turkey
April 26 2009

Turkish pres meets Azerbaijani defense min amid rising tension

ISTANBUL – Turkish President Abdullah Gul, met with Azerbaijani
defense minister on Saturday as the ties between two countries
strained because of Turkey’s and Armenia’s recent moves aiming to
normalize relations.

Gul had a meeting with Safar Abiyev at the Presidential Palace in the
Turkish capital of Ankara, however no official announcement was issued
following the meeting.

Azerbaijan said earlier that Turkey and Armenia risk raising tensions
in the region if they go ahead with their plans to normalize relations
before the dispute over the Armenian occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region
inside Azerbaijan is solved.

Azerbaijan urged its close ally Turkey to link reconciliation efforts
with Armenia to the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the disputed
region.

Turkey and Armenia announced late Wednesday that they had agreed on a
framework for normalizing relations, the first of its kind since
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two neighboring countries were not having diplomatic relations
since then.

Turkey however says the accord would help Azerbaijan to lead a
solution regarding the region occupied by Armenians.

Washington Independent
April 24, 2009 Friday 3:26 PM EST

Pelosi Reiterates Call to Recognize Armenian Genocide

by Mike Lillis

Apr. 24, 2009 (Center for Independent Media delivered by Newstex) —

Officially, today marks Å`Armenian Remembrance Day, set aside to
honor the roughly 1.5 million Armenians killed at the hands of Ottoman
Turks in 1915. But in the eyes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), its misnamed. From the statement just out of her office:

Today, we commemorate the 94th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
and pay tribute to the victims and survivors. ¦

International observers and diplomats to the Ottoman Empire, including
U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, watched a nightmare unfurl and
provided detailed accounts about Ë`a campaign of race
extermination.

It is long past time for the U.S. Government to formally recognize the
Armenian Genocide. If we ignore history then we are destined to repeat
the mistakes of the past. The genocides in Rwanda and Darfur remind us
that we must do more to prevent this from ever happening again.

On this anniversary, we must remember the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide. We must also provide the leadership to ensure that
this human tragedy is not repeated.

The topic is a sticky one on Capitol Hill, where a resolution to
recognize the killings as genocide was passed by a House committee in
2007, but never brought to the floor for fear of alienating Turkey, a
strategic ally in the Iraq war.

Indeed, President Obama today approached the anniversary much more
carefully, calling the episode Å`one of the great atrocities of the
20th century, but never uttering the word genocide. Is that an
inconsistent position? Heres The Associated Press laying out the
scenario:

During his election campaign, Obama said in a speech that he had stood
with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkeys
acknowledgment of the Å`Armenian Genocide.

Despite bowing to diplomatic convention, Obama said in his statement
issued on Friday that he had not changed his mind.

Å`I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915,
and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the
achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts.

If the I-am-not-backtracking argument sounds familiar, its because the
president has been offering essentially the same explanation over the
White House silence on gun control.

Centre TV, Moscow
April 24 2009

Russian party leader Zhirinovskiy stresses strength of alliance with
Armenia

Alliance with Russia is the only strategy for Armenia to ensure its
long-term survival, according to Vladimir Zhirinovskiy, the leader of
the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and deputy speaker of the State
Duma. He was interviewed on the "25th Hour" programme on Moscow city
government controlled Centre TV on 23 April.

Zhirinovskiy said: "Well we are very old allies. Russia has always
been helping perhaps for about 200 years because Armenia, by the way,
was in a difficult position. The Ottoman empire and the Iranian empire
– it was squeezed, lost its territory and its people. Therefore, we
are blood-allies so to speak. If we look at Kazakhstan and Central
Asia, there could also be pro-Chinese moods, as well as a pro-Turkish
or pro-American sentiments – there is a possibility for
manoeuvre. Here manoeuvres are not possible because to fall under the
influence of Turkey or Azerbaijan is disastrous for Armenia from
ideological point of view and from cultural as well as from economic
points of view."

"Armenia will never express feelings of sympathy towards Turkey,
i.e. it is the most strategic ally [of Russia] in the South Caucasus."

Zhirinovskiy admitted that Russia can have and does have good
relations with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan "but in the event of
some kind of Muslim solidarity, Azerbaijan will be with Turkey and
Turkey with Azerbaijan but not with Russia or Armenia". "Therefore in
any case Russia is Armenia’s only saviour, hope and support. This is
why there are our border guards on the border with Turkey and Iran,"
Zhirinovskiy said and added that Armenia was "the only country which
is ready for everything and interested." Zhirinovskiy agreed that
Armenia was interested in Russian expanding its influence in the South
Caucasus and said that Armenia "does not at all demand priority for
Armenia, it [Russia] is simply a guarantor of security for them
because from two sides it is squeezed between two Turkic states, it
has not prospects. It is hard and dangerous for it."

"For Armenia the only way to remain a state for all times is to be in
an alliance with Russia. This is the purest and longest lasting
strategic alliance – otherwise they will be destroyed from all
directions."

Armenian diaspora says Obama failing to keep election promise

14:34 | 25/ 04/ 2009

YEREVAN, April 25 (RIA Novosti) – A prominent Armenian organization in
the United States accused U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday of
failing to follow up on his election promise to recognize the genocide
of Armenians.

Obama made a statement on Friday dedicated to the commemoration of the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the end of the Ottoman
period in 1915. However, the president called the deaths "one of the
great atrocities of the 20th century" but stopped short of using the
term "genocide" in his speech.

"President Obama had the opportunity to chart a new course toward the
normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey in his statement
on April 24 by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, but he failed to
deliver on the change he promised," the Armenian Assembly of America
(AAA) said in a statement.

"His failure to affirm the proud chapter in U.S. history, the American
response to the first genocide of the 20th century, has needlessly
delayed the cause of genocide affirmation and diminishes U.S.
credibility with regard to genocide prevention," the statement quoted
AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny as saying.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues.

A number of states have recognized the killings in Armenia as the first
genocide of the 20th century, including Russia, France, Italy, Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece, as well as 42 of the 50 U.S.
states. The Vatican, the European Parliament and the World Council of
Churches have also denounced the killings as genocide. Uruguay was the
first to do so in 1965.

Turkey has always urged Armenia to end its attempts to have the
killings recognized as an act of genocide.

Turkish and Armenian envoys have been holding closed negotiations in
Switzerland for the past two years to try and stabilize ties.

The two countries came to an agreement Thursday on a "roadmap" aimed at
normalizing bilateral relations.

ARMENIA WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM OPENING THE BORDER, A FORMER DEPUTY DEFENCE MINISTER SAYS AND OFFERS CONDITIONS TO TURKEY
Nelly Grigoryan

Aravot
April 15 2009
Armenia

[Correspondent] What processes are going on in the region and to
what extent are they connected with the [possible] opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border, taking into account Russia’s and the USA’s
activity?

[Former Deputy Defence Minister Vahan Shirkhanyan] August 2008
[Russian-Georgian war] set a task of reconsidering strategies for
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The new geopolitical situation
created problems for Turkey as well. The latter got convinces that
NATO’s guarantee is not sufficient for the secure operation of the
Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Azerbaijan understood that it might be
necessary to drop the Nabucco project [gas pipeline to deliver
Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe bypassing Russia]. The
Turkish-American influence, which had been introduced for years,
started to yield quickly to Russian influence. Naturally, in order
to maintain its influence in the region Turkey had to find a way out
and it calculated that Armenia is the weakest link. The unsettled
Karabakh conflict, the label of an aggressor country, its isolation
from regional economic projects should push Armenia to concessions
and open a new field for Turkish influence.

[Correspondent] Do you believe that the opening of the Armenian-Turkish
border is possible at present?

[Shirkhanyan] The strangest thing is that Armenia does not only agree
to but also suggests opening the border without preconditions. It
is not clear why Turkey should set conditions when it itself closed
the border, when it itself incited the Karabakh-Azerbaijan conflict,
when it itself used almost all elements of hostilities against Armenia
– threat of using force, demonstration of force, blockade, setting
ultimatums, etc. That is who should dictate conditions to whom? It is
Armenia who has political, international and moral rights to dictate
conditions, and we should use this right. The conditions are the
following: Turkey recognizes Artsakh’s [Karabakh’s] independence,
Turkey recognizes the fact of the genocide [killings of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey in 1915], Turkey withdraws its military units from
Naxcivan [Azerbaijani exclave].

Afterwards Armenia and Artsakh will decide in a joint referendum to
open or not to open the border with Turkey. Armenia and Armenians will
not benefit anything from opening this border, they will lose, and
Turkey will definitely win both in political and economic terms. The
opening of the border will significantly mitigate the threat of
recognition of the genocide for Turkey. Turkey will demand that the
Naxcivan – Meghri [district in southern Armenia] – Baku road should
be opened. Then Russian troops should withdraw. The opinions voiced
regarding economic benefits are so groundless that I would not like to
speak about those at all. Of course, Armenian-Turkish relations need
to be settled some time. However, the opening of the Turkish border is
not permissible in the current moral-political environment, lack of
trust between the authorities and the public, government corruption,
vulnerability of domestic producers, imperfection of tax and customs
laws in Armenia.

[Correspondent] Can the Karabakh issue be bypassed in talks on the
settlement of Armenian-Turkish relations, as the Armenian government
says?

[Shirkhanyan] Of course, not. Otherwise, the Armenian authorities
would not be repeating the "without preconditions" phrase all day
long. The Turkish leadership never hid that the border was closed to
put pressure on Armenia in the Karabakh issue. In the last four days
the Turkish president, prime minister and parliament reiterated their
resoluteness – by linking the opening of the border to a settlement
of the Karabakh issue in Azerbaijan’s favour.

US JOURNALISTS CHARGED IN NORTH KOREA FACE YEARS IN LABOUR CAMP
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor

Times Online
April 24, 2009

Euna Lee and Laura Ling are to stand trial in North Korea

Two female American journalists face five years or more in a labour
camp, after North Korea announced today that they would be prosecuted
for allegedly crossing the Stalinist state’s border with China.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of the web-based channel Current TV, were
arrested in mid-March while reporting from the Tumen River, which
marks North Korea’s northeast border. They were investigating the
plight of North Korean refugees and appear either to have crossed
the border or been abducted by Chinese soldiers.

Either way, they have now become pawns in a much larger international
diplomatic game in which the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, has
defied the world by testing a long-range nuclear missile and building
a small arsenal of nuclear weapons.

After being held for five weeks, the two have been formally prosecuted
on unknown charges, possible espionage or "hostility toward North
Koreans", which carry a sentence of between five and ten years.

"A competent organ of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
concluded the investigation into the journalists of the United States,"
the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported today. "The organ
formally decided to refer them to a trial on the basis of the confirmed
crimes committed by them."

The US has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, and it has relied
on the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang to act as its intermediary. A
Swedish diplomat has met the two captives, but the US Government
has said only that it is doing its best to free them, apparently
hoping that the case can be resolved quietly and not escalate into
an international incident.

Current TV, which was founded by the former US vice-president, Al
Gore, has made no statement about the detention of its employees,
and took down a report about their capture from its website.

Ms Ling, 32, is a Chinese-American and vice-president of the channel’s
investigative reporting unit, based in Hollywood. Euna Lee is a
Korean-American videographer. The two were accompanied by Mitch Koss,
a cameraman who escaped capture and is now back in the US.

A Christian pastor in South Korea, who introduced them to defectors
living in Chinese border towns, says that he warned them to stay clear
of the river border itself, which is easily crossed when it is frozen
or low.

A South Korean news agency reported that the journalists had crossed
the river and then ignored warnings to stop shooting footage inside
North Korea.

Another report claimed that they were arrested as they ran back across
the river, alleging that they were pursued by soldiers into China.

A num ber of foreigners have got into trouble for entering North
Korea by unapproved routes.

An American army helicopter pilot accidentally strayed from South to
North Korea in 1994; after signing an apology he was released after
13 days.

The last American to enter uninvited was a troubled man named Evan
Carl Hunziker, who swam across the river dividing the country from
China while drunk and remained in custody for three months. He was
released only after the then US Congressman, Bill Richardson, travelled
to North Korea with a $5,000 "accommodation fee". Mr Hunziker shot
himself dead a month later.

ARMENIANS REMEMBER WWI KILLINGS

Ynetnews
April 24 2009
Israel

Armenians flooded to a monument above Yerevan on Friday to lay flowers
in remembrance of the World War I killing of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks, even as the country looks to an historic accord with Turkey.

The neighbors announced late on Wednesday they had agreed on a road
map to normalize ties after a century of hostility that traces its
roots to the 1915 mass killing and deportation of Armenians, a crime
Armenia says was genocide.

ARMENIA REMEMBERS ALLEGED GENOCIDE

United Press International
24/Armenia-remembers-alleged-genocide/UPI-95451240 596673/
April 24 2009

YEREVAN, Armenia, April 24 (UPI) — Thousands of Armenian residents
paid homage to 1.5 million of their fellow citizens who died as a
result of what Armenia says was genocide by Turks.

The genocide claims have continued to make relations between Armenia
and Turkey extremely tense. Euronews.net reported Friday thousands
of people gathered Thursday night to pay tribute to those lost during
the countries’ World War I conflict.

Those taking part in the ceremony near the Armenian capital of Yerevan
laid wreathes around a memorial flame to remember those killed in
the historic clash.

Turkey refuses to acknowledge Armenia’s claim that 1.5 million
Armenians were killed in genocide perpetrated by Ottoman
Turks. Nonetheless, Turkey has recognized that Turks did kill many
Christian Armenians during the conflict.

Euronews.net said in addition to Armenia, 21 other countries have
designated the Armenian deaths as genocide.

ANKARA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DECREASED ACTIVITY IN NEGOTIATION PROCESS

PanArmenian News
April 22 2009
Armenia

"The Armenian-Turkish talks pursued quite an active course until
recently, and I hoped they would eventually lead to diplomatic ties
establishment and opening of border. But that didn’t happen,"
CIMERA Geneva Centre Representative, Viken Cheterian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. Cheteryan finds Ankara responsible for the
low activeness observed in negotiation process. "Turkish Government’s
constant assertions that no opening of border is possible without
Karabakh conflict settlement are first of all intended for domestic
consumption. The same is true for Azerbaijan although Ilham Aliev’s
situation is much worse. Opening of the border will lift the blockade
of Armenia compelling Azerbaijan to new concessions in Karabakh
conflict," Cheterian stressed.