Author: Nargizian David

SPEECH BY ARMENIAN MP IN THE CYPRUS PARLIAMENT VARTKES MAHDESSIAN AT THE POLITICAL GATHERING IN PASYDY HALL – NICOSIA – CYPRUS, AT THE 95TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra

mp;page_id=121&path=121
Saturday 24 April 2010

Nicosia – Today marks the completion of 95 whole years since the
first great Genocide of the 20th century, one of the darkest pages
in history.

Like every year this day, we experience a mixture of feelings. They
are feelings of emotion, sorrow and indignation for the extermination
of one and a half million innocent people, whose only "mistake"
was their ethnicity and religion.

Although the official Turkish position is that the death of
thousands of Armenians was a tragic but unintentional consequence
of the War, recent studies by both Western and Turkish analysts
in Ottoman documents of the time, especially military and judicial
records, parliamentary minutes, letters and testimonies of Western
eye-witnesses, bring out the organised and co-ordinated attempt of
the Ottoman state, the governing "Union and Progress" Young Turks’
party, as well as of the military forces, to wipe out the Armenians
and the other Christian minorities, in order to build a purely Turkish
national state.

The plan to exterminate the Armenians did not start in 1915, but
much earlier. Specifically, Sultan Abdul Hamid, convinced that the
misfortunes of the Ottoman Empire originated from Christians, ordered
the massacre of about 300.000 Armenians between 1894 and 1896. The
great Genocide was also preceded by the slaughter of 30.000 Armenians
in 1909 in Adana.

In 1915, Turkey took advantage of the unsettled situation that had been
created with World War I, when the Great Powers were fighting between
them, to carry out undisturbed her unholy plan, the annihilation of
the Armenians.

Despite the inhuman and fierce plans of the Turks, the Armenian
Nation has managed to survive and preserve its national conscience,
language and religion. The survivors of the horrific massacres and the
Genocide originally fled to the neighbouring Middle Eastern countries,
amongst them Cyprus, establishing communities. Gradually, some moved
to Greece and other European, African, Asian and American countries,
creating the Armenian Diaspora.

For decades, the Armenian Genocide remained on the sidelines until,
after long-lasting struggles, the re-introduction of the Armenian
Question to the international stage was made possible in 1965,
when the Parliament of Uruguay recognised the Genocide and the late
President Spyros Kyprianou made reference to it for the first time
from the podium of the United Nations’ General Assembly.

Ever since, this issue has become a hot topic for Turkey, as country
after country and International Organisations, like the European
Parliament, have gradually recognised the Armenian Genocide, while
Turkey responds in fits and starts, attempting to avert its global
conviction with threats and extortion.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Armenian Genocide is recognised
today by 43 states of America. Last year, from this podium I had
expressed the wish that Barrack Obama’s pre-election commitments for
the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States
become a reality, something that will lead the way for its global
recognition. However, after recent events and the marginal Congress
resolution for the recognition of the Genocide and Obama’s reaction
to it, I am sorry to say that our hopes have unfortunately gone up
in smoke. However, the recent recognition of the Genocide by Wales,
Catalonia and Sweden are shining examples.

For Armenians, and the entire humanity, the question of recognising
the Armenian Genocide is a matter of order and moral satisfaction. Its
global recognition will be the minimal proof that International Law
and human values prevail over financial, political and other interests.

The crimes of Turkey, other than the Armenian Genocide, include the
Pontian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and other Genocides, the brutal
invasion and for 36 years illegal occupation of a large part of Cyprus’
soil and the continuous oppression of Armenians, Greeks and other
minorities living in a country that wants to become a member of the
European family.

As long as Turkey continues to stubbornly deny the crimes it has
committed, humanity will be at a loss, the crimes it committed will
go unpunished and the people that were subjected to these crimes will
be unjustified.

For the non-admission of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish state and
the non-taking the responsibility for it, the psychology and culture
of the Turkish society play an important part, as it is unwilling to
come to terms with its criminal past. An equally important factor is
the fact that Turks cannot read written documents of the time, such
as newspapers, letters and journals, as in 1928, within the context
of the reformations introduced by Kemal Ataturk, the Turkish alphabet
was changed from Arabic to Latin script. Modern Turks are, therefore,
fully depended on history, as it has been forged and compiled by the
Turkish state.

Thus, modern Turkey remains stigmatised by the fact that it does
not find the courage to apologise, which although it will not erase
yesterday, it will still be a prerequisite for a better tomorrow. Not
only it remains unrepentant, but it also uses communication tricks
and diplomatic games, trying to project to the outside the image of
a peacemaker and a peripheral power that poses a stabilising factor
in the sensitive Middle East region.

Perhaps the most characteristic of Turkey’s diplomatic games,
ultimately aiming at renouncing its responsibilities for the Genocide,
has proven to be the recent trick with the Armenia-Turkey protocols,
the signing of which raised a huge wave of protest in Cyprus and the
entire Armenian Diaspora. Wrapping up, without wishing to elaborate,
I will only mention that the signing of the protocols took place on 9
October 2009. Their ratification, however, has not yet materialised
until today, as Turkey continuously blackmails for returns in order
to proceed to their ratification.

Hoping for better days, I leave the conclusions to you …

Thank you for your attention.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA ON ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY: THE MEDS YEGHERN IS A DEVASTATING CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE

ArmInfo
2010-04-25 03:54:00

ArmInfo. US President Barack Obama called the tragedy of 1915 Meds
Yeghern in his traditional address on April 24 timed to the Remembrance
Day of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. The US
president did not fulfill his pre-election promise to call the above
incidents Genocide for the second time already.

ArmInfo News Agency quotes the text of Barack Obama’s address: "On
this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five
years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began. In
that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or
marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.

Today is a day to reflect upon and draw lessons from these terrible
events. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in
1915, and my view of that history has not changed. It is in all
of our interest to see the achievement of a full, frank and just
acknowledgment of the facts. The Meds Yeghern is a devastating chapter
in the history of the Armenian people, and we must keep its memory
alive in honor of those who were murdered and so that we do not repeat
the grave mistakes of the past. I salute the Turks who saved Armenians
in 1915 and am encouraged by the dialogue among Turks and Armenians,
and within Turkey itself, regarding this painful history. Together,
the Turkish and Armenian people will be stronger as they acknowledge
their common history and recognize their common humanity.

Even as we confront the inhumanity of 1915, we also are inspired by
the remarkable spirit of the Armenian people. While nothing can bring
back those who were killed in the Meds Yeghern, the contributions that
Armenians have made around the world over the last ninety-five years
stand as a testament to the strength, tenacity and courage of the
Armenian people. The indomitable spirit of the Armenian people is a
lasting triumph over those who set out to destroy them. Many Armenians
came to the United States as survivors of the horrors of 1915. Over
the generations Americans of Armenian descent have richened our
communities, spurred our economy, and strengthened our democracy. The
strong traditions and culture of Armenians also became the foundation
of a new republic which has become a part of the community of nations,
partnering with the world community to build a better future.

Today, we pause with them and with Armenians everywhere to remember
the awful events of 1915 with deep admiration for their contributions
which transcend this dark past and give us hope for the future."

The Post-Standard – Syracuse.com
April 24 2010

Armenians in Syracuse and around the world honor those killed almost
100 years ago

By Lyndra Vassar
April 24, 2010, 4:24PM

With candles in hand, more than 50 people gathered at St. Paul’s
Armenian Church on Saturday to honor an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians killed around the time of World War I.

The killings began in 1915 when members of the Turkish government
issued a removal of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Many Armenians
were deported, exiled from their homes without food or water, and
murdered.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide,
saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of
civil war and unrest.

Now almost 100 years later, people around the world hold services to
remember the victims. Services are typically held on April 24 ‘ the
day Ottoman authorities arrested more than 200 Armenian leaders.

`This is the most important thing that will bring our people together
today,’ said the Rev. Daniel Kardjian, of St. Paul’s.

Church members lit candles, prayed, and read scriptures during the
service. Others signed a letter asking the U.S. government to
recognize the killings as genocide.

`It’s the kind of thing that we should not tolerate as a civilization
anywhere,’ said Steve Kimatian, a member of St. Paul’s. `And when it
does occur in a situation like this we should recognize it for what it
is: an outright desire to eradicate another ethnicity.’

Many church members hope the services will also encourage people to
uphold peace in their communities.

`This day will keep our memories fresh and continue to ask the world
to not kill nations again and again,’ Kardjian said.

/04/armenians_in_cny_and_around_th.html

RTT News
April 25 2010

Armenians Remember Victims Of Ottoman Mass Killings

(RTTNews) – Several thousands of Armenians gathered in the capital
city of Yerevan Saturday to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the
mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, which
they term as "genocide." Armenians in remembrance to the victims laid
flowers at a hilltop memorial under gloomy conditions. Turkey stoutly
denies the events of that time as genocide, and believes the number of
those killed as highly inflated and were mostly victims of civil war
and unrest.

Armenians came to the service in huge numbers despite the rain, with
posters and placards. President Serge Sarkisian called the killings as
unparalleled in "its scope, monstrosity and graveness of its
consequences while addressing the nation."

Sarkisian added his country was "grateful to all those in many
countries, including Turkey, who understand the importance of averting
crimes against humanity."

The commemoration comes in the background of continued tensions
between Armenia and Turkey that further deteriorated after a peace
deal between the two nations fell apart. Thursday, the ruling
coalition of Armenia ceased all efforts at ratification in parliament
of the deal normalizing relations with Turkey, primarily on Turkey
refusal to ratify the protocols without preconditions.

Turkey’s preconditions relates mainly to the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh that is under the control of Armenia. Turkey closed
its border with Armenia in 1993 in protest against Armenia’s war with
its neighbor Azerbaijan over the enclave, which is within Azerbaijan
but under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.

Turkey and Armenia had signed a historic accord in 2009 to
re-establish diplomatic ties after years of hostilities that followed
the World War I mass killings of Armenians.

The events of the genocide claimed by Armenia took place in April
1915. Armenia claims that the Ottoman government embarked upon a
systematic decimation of its civilian Armenian population at that
time, with varying intensity until 1923 when the Ottoman Empire ceased
to exist and was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. Armenia claims
its population under the Ottoman state at about two million in 1915,
but over one million perished by 1918 with hundreds of thousands had
become homeless and stateless refugees. Armenia states that by 1923
virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolian Turkey had
disappeared.

by RTT Staff Writer

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Los Angeles Times
April 25 2010

Obama again stops short of calling slaughter of Armenians a genocide

For the second year in a row, Obama avoids the term being pushed by
Armenian American groups and their congressional allies as he marks
the day of remembrance of the 1915 killings by Ottoman Turks.

April 24, 2010|By Paul Richter, Tribune Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington ‘ Despite pressure from activists and
lawmakers, President Obama on Saturday again refused to declare the
1915 mass killings of Armenians a genocide.

In a statement to mark Armenian Remembrance Day, Obama described the
killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "one of the
worst atrocities of the 20th century."

He referred to it as a "devastating chapter," and said that "we must
keep its memory alive in honor of those who were murdered so that we
do not repeat the grave mistakes of the past."

Yet for the second year in a row, Obama avoided describing the episode
as a genocide.

Armenian American groups and their allies in Congress have been
pushing for use of the term, and as a presidential candidate in 2008,
Obama promised he would.

But Turkey, a key U.S. ally, has been warning that it would badly
damage relations if the U.S. government tried to "politicize history."
Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Washington last month after the
House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a nonbinding resolution calling
the killings a genocide.

Obama’s statement referred to the episode as "Meds Yeghern" an
Armenian phrase that translates roughly as "great calamity." Obama
appeared to be trying to draw a parallel with Shoah, used by Jews to
refer to the Holocaust.

He also referred to his past statements that the killings amounted to
genocide. "I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in
1915, and my view of that history has not changed," he said.

Fourteen U.S. senators, led by Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.) recently
wrote to Obama to urge him to use genocide in his annual address. Rep.
Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) made a similar plea in a letter sent to Obama
two days ago.

The United States relies on Turkey as a transit point for equipment
for U.S. troops in the region. Turkey is also currently a rotating
member of the United Nations Security Council, and the Obama
administration badly wants its vote of support for a pending
resolution to impose additional sanctions on Iran to limit its nuclear
activities.

Armenian American groups held out hope that Obama would change his
language this year, though he did not use the term in his first
official statement, issued last year, on the subject.

Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of America, said earlier this week that he hoped that Obama would be
giving more emphasis to human rights concerns this year. Hamparian
noted that Obama met with the Dalai Lama this year, after sidestepping
a meeting which would have angered Beijing last year.

The Armenian National Committee of America issued a statement Saturday
describing Obama’s declaration as "yet another disgraceful
capitulation to Turkey’s threats, offering euphemisms and evasive
terminology to characterize this crime against humanity."

Obama also said in his statement that he saluted the Turks who saved
Armenians in 1915, and that he remained "encouraged by the dialogue
among Turks and Armenians, and within Turkey itself, regarding this
painful history."

He expressed "deep admiration for [the Armenians and] their
contributions which transcend this dark past and give us hope for the
future."

0/apr/24/nation/la-na-obama-armenians-20100425

S. Demirtchyan: `Turkey pursued two goals’

A1Plus.am
07:34 pm | April 24, 2010 | Politics

Leader of People’s Party of Armenia (HzhK) Stepan Demirtchyan is not
surprised at Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to suspend the ratification of
Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

"Armenia took the wrong path from the very beginning by signing a
document full of preconditions. Obviously, Serzh Sargsyan’s decision
shows that the Armenian side does not intend to withdraw from the
reconciliation process. Before the president’s address, both Serzh
Sargsyan and National Assembly announced that Armenia would not ratify
the documents until Turkey did," Stepan Demirtchyan told A1+.

Did Armenian authorities need a year and a half to realize that the
protocols carry preconditions?
In rely the HZhK Leader said, "It was vivid from the beginning. Turkey
made use of the process to suspend the genocide recognition and assume
a key role in the Karabakh conflict settlement."

"I don’t think that America, Russia or France were taken aback by Mr.
Sargsyan’s decision" he added.

‘TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN BENEFIT IN SITUATION WITH PROTOCOLS’

news.az
april 23 2010
Azerbaijan

Rasim Musabeyov ‘Armenia wanted to withdraw its signatures under the
protocols of Zurich’ said Rasim Musabeyov.

Political scientist Rasim Musabeyov has commented on the situation
in the Armenian-Turkish relations and Karabakh conflict settlement,
in the light of the freezing of protocols by Armenia.

‘Armenia wanted to withdraw its signatures under the protocols
of Zurich, but Sargsyan was explained during his visit to the
United States and Europe that Yerevan will not be allowed to do
this. It was made clear that West is interested in the opening of
the Armenian-Turkish border and even if this process has failed at
the current stage, it does not mean that they should reject all the
achievements between Turkey and Armenia’, the political scientist said.

‘By signing the Zurich protocols Armenia pursued the aim to sow a
discord between Turkey and Azerbaijan. The matter is that Turkey
is a military and strategic partner of Azerbaijan and in case of
hostilities in Karabakh Armenia will be in a difficult state.

Therefore, Yerevan ‘strategists’ hoped that the Armenian-Turkish
protocols will be of use in this direction. However, Armenia and those
backing it did not manage to sow a discord between Ankara and Baku’,
Musabeyov said.

‘On the contrary, Turkey and Azerbaijan benefited more in the
established situation with the Armenian-Turkish protocols. First
of all, Ankara was able to preserve ally relations with the United
States and the West has accepted Turkey as a growing superpower. The
west and the world community agreed to the growing role of Turkey in
international policy, because it cannot be otherwise.

Now, they will have a small trading with the West about the format and
the scale of growing Turkey’s positions in different regions. Turkey
has also received an active role in the Caucasus, including in the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict – from now on the Minsk Group
co-chairs agree to take into account Turkey’s interests and position
in this issue’, the political scientist said.

‘Second, Azerbaijan could prove and persuade the West that there will
be no use of the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border without the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Baku has insisted on its position
and the West decided to settle the Karabakh conflict to protect its
interests in the region and then to put efforts to normalize the
Armenian-Turkish relations.

West earlier hoped that the Armenian-Turkish border and Azerbaijan
will reconcile with it while later it will be possible to coax the
Azerbaijani side forcing Armenia to liberate some of the occupied
regions. But this plan failed which was admitted by the United States
and they approved Armenia’s freezing of protocols. And Turkey would
benefit from it because the freezing initiative came from Armenia
and the whole responsibility for the further developments is now on
Yerevan and its supporters’, Musabeyov said.

ARMENIA HALTS RATIFICATION DEAL WITH TURKEY

The News International
April 23 2010
Pakistan

YEREVAN: Armenia said ON Thursday it was halting ratification of an
accord on normalising ties with Turkey, dealing a critical blow to
the two countries’ efforts to overcome decades of hostility.

President Serzh Sarkisian said the Armenian parliament would no longer
consider ratifying the US-backed deal, but he insisted Armenia was
not withdrawing fully from the peace process.

"We have decided… not to exit the process for the time being,
but rather, to suspend the procedure of ratifying the protocols. We
believe this to be in the best interests of our nation," Sarkisian
said in a televised address.

"Armenia shall retain her signature under the protocols, because we
desire to maintain the existing momentum for normalising relations,
because we desire peace," he added.

Sarkisian lashed out at Turkey for trying to set "preconditions" on
the deal, in a clear reference to Ankara’s position that the process
cannot move forward without progress in Armenia’s conflict with
Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.

"For a whole year, Turkey’s senior officials have not spared public
statements in the language of preconditions," he said. "From this
moment on, we consider the current phase of normalisation exhausted."

Armenia’s ruling coalition of three parties had earlier announced
it was freezing ratification of the deal because "the Turkish side
is refusing to ratify the protocols without preconditions and in a
reasonable timeframe."

SERZH SARGSYAN RESCUED ERDOGAN AND PROTOCOLS: MEHMET ALI BIRAND

Tert.am
24.04.10

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan saved both the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by
his recent decision to suspend the ratification of those Protocols,
writes famous Turkish journalist, analyst and Chief Editor of CNNTurk
Mehmet Ali Birand.

"Armenia suspended the Protocols signed with Turkey. If approached
from that view point, at first glance it may look like a negative
development. But that is not the case. Just on the contrary. That
important decision prevented the imminent death of the Protocols. I am
inclined to back that second view as Armenia, the United States and
Europe were convinced that Turkey linked the opening of the boarder
with Turkey to the Karabakh conflict," writes Birand, adding that in
that respect Ankara’s stance was greatly harming the policy pursued
by Serzh Sargsyan.

According to Birand that line of action of Turkey inflicted a lot
of wounds on the policy implemented by Sargsyan. In his words the
general picture of how things stood last month was the following:
the Protocols had been sent to the Armenian parliament, but were not
being ratified because of that precondition.

Further Birand says that Armenia would send the Protocols to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding to annul them and also withdraw
Armenia’s signature, should Ankara have not acted.

"That is to say the Protocols would officially be buried. And it
would not be easy to start everything anew," writes Mehmet Ali Birand.

U.S. NEUTRAL IN KARABAKH CONFLICT – OFFICIAL

Yerkir
21.04.2010 12:54
Yerevan

Yerevan (Yerkir) – The U.S. took a neutral position on the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and highly supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s
efforts, U.S. State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner
has said in an interview with the Azerbaijani service of the Voice
of America.

There is no cooling in the Azerbaijani-U.S. relations, Toner said. As
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States for a long period
has made every effort to rapidly resolve the protracted conflict
together with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"The United States does not recognize the independence of
Nagorno-Karabakh. We are not at anyone’s side, we support the Minsk
Group and the peaceful settlement of the conflict," he said.

Toner also touched the issue of the Turkish-Armenian negotiations.

"We stand for the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations,
which corresponds to the interests of the region. At the same time,
we highly support the Minsk process. We would like to achieve a
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and to work
with Azerbaijan and Armenia for this end," Toner added.