Author: Navasardian Karapet

Armenian National Committee of Hollywood
1611 North Kenmore Avenue
Hollywood, California 90027
Web:

PRESS RELEASE

March 11, 2010
Contact: Thora Giallouri

ANC HOLLYWOOD URGES COMMUNITY TO VOTE IN UPCOMING NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
ELECTIONS

HOLLYWOOD, CA—With neighborhood council elections in the greater Hollywood
area fast approaching, the Armenian National Committee of Hollywood is
urging residents and stakeholders to learn more about the candidates and
vote.

"Armenian Americans who are stakeholders should take this opportunity to
learn more about the candidates running to represent them." said Rostom
Sarkissian, Chairman of the ANC Hollywood. "By casting your vote our
community has a voice in selecting neighborhood council members whose
advisory role addresses important quality of life issues that affect our
lives."

Stakeholders are individuals who live, work, go to school or use other types
of services in the communities represented by the council.

The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council is divided into 5 districts
and each district will elect 2 representatives. An Armenian-American, Mrs.
Christina Amerian-Khanjian is running for district B. Residents aged 13
and above, can cast their votes on Saturday, March 20th from 10:00am to
4:00pm at Hollywood Lutheran Church: Hoick Hall, 1733 New Hampshire Avenue,
Los Angeles CA 90027.

In East Hollywood, 4 Armenian-Americans are running for different positions;
Sam Kbushyan and Lucy Varpetian are running for re-election. They are
joined by first time candidates Shahan Suzmeyan and, Edgar Makhshikyan.
Unlike the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council, only 1 candidate is
elected in each district in East Hollywood. Hollywood area residents aged
16 and above can cast their ballots on March 20 from 2:00pm to 8:00pm at Los
Angeles City College Faculty and Staff Center, 855 North Vermont Avenue, Los
Angeles CA 90029.

The elections for Central Hollywood, Hollywood United and Hollywood Studio
District Neighborhood Councils will take place on May 13. The candidate
registration deadline is March 15. Active and engaged residents in these
communities who are interested in becoming candidates can learn more by
visiting:
ncdocs/Election%20Information%20listed%
20by%20Reg ion.pdf.

The Armenian National Committee of Hollywood advances the social, economic,
cultural, and political rights of the area’s Armenian American community and
promotes increased Armenian American civic participation at the grassroots
and public policy levels.

IMPROVED QUALITY OF YEREVAN METRO TO HALVE ITS ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.03.2010 13:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Improved quality and increased effectiveness of
Yerevan metro will halve its energy consumption, Valeriu Razlog , head
of the Yerevan office of EBRD said after signing the loan agreement
between the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
and Yerevan Metro. EBRD will provide 1 million euro of technical
assistance to Yerevan metro, he said.

On 10 March 2010 the government of Armenia and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed a 15 million euro loan
agreement. The agreement was signed by the finance minister Tigran
Davtyan and head of the EBRD office in Yerevan Valeriu Razlog.

TURKEY’S AMBASSADOR NOT TO RETURN TO THE US

armradio.am
09.03.2010 17:33

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkish
Ambassador to Washington Namýk Tan, who was called to Ankara over the
US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee’s approval of
a bill recognizing the World War I deaths of Anatolian Armenians as
genocide, will not be sent back to the US, the Anatolia news agency
has reported.

TURKEY STILL FROSTY WITH U.S. OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MOVE

CNN International
rope/03/09/turkey.us.genocide.debate/
March 9 2010

(CNN) — Turkey will not send its U.S. ambassador back to Washington
until it receives "clarity" on a measure that recommends the United
States recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic Armenians as genocide,
Turkey’s prime minister said Tuesday.

"As long as we don’t see clarity in the situation about the Armenian
bill, we won’t send our ambassador (back)," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
at a lunch with journalists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The ambassador was recalled last week to protest the House Foreign
Affairs Committee’s passage of the measure on a 23-22 vote Thursday.

The nearly century-old issue has placed both Congress and the White
House in the middle of a political minefield. The Obama administration
had urged the committee not to pass the resolution, warning it could
damage U.S.-Turkish relations and jeopardize efforts to normalize
relations between Turkey and its neighbor, Armenia. The two do not
share formal diplomatic relations.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday that "the
Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed
by only one vote in the House committee, and we’ll work very hard to
make sure it does not go to the House floor."

Following the vote, Erdogan condemned the measure in a statement on
his Web site, saying it "accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it
has not committed. The people who support this bill have adopted a
wrong and unfair attitude, ignoring the differences of opinion of
expert historians and historical facts. The bill has been prepared
with tangible historical mistakes regarding the 1915 incidents and
with a completely subjective attitude."

However, Armenia’s foreign minister has expressed appreciation for
the vote.

Turkey officially denies a genocide took place in the last days of
the crumbling Ottoman Empire, saying that Muslim Turks and Christians
massacred each other on the killing fields of World War I.

Historians have extensively documented the Ottoman military’s forced
death-march of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians into the
Syrian desert in 1915. Every April 24, Armenians worldwide observe a
remembrance day for those killed. The deaths decimated the Armenian
population in what is now eastern Turkey.

The government in the Armenian capital of Yerevan and influential
Armenian diaspora groups have been urging countries around the world
to formally label the 1915 events as genocide.

TURKISH PM SAYS US CONGRESS VOTE ON ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ WAS COMEDY

Philippines News Agency (PNA)
March 7, 2010 Sunday

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday’s vote in the
U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on a resolution recognizing
the fact of `Armenian genocide’ during the Ottoman Empire was a comedy.

`The scenario that was played out turned out to be a comedy. The
country will not put up with the lie that is being forced upon it,’
he said.

Erdogan said Turkey could not accept `such parody’ and described the
initiators of the vote as shortsighted.

The adoption of the resolution forced Ankara to recall its ambassador
to Washington for consultations. He said upon arrival in Ankara that
the vote had been wrong from the very beginning.

The diplomat did not say when he planned to return to the United
States, adding that this would depend on his consultations and the
decisions to be made by the government.

The issue of Armenian genocide has tarnished relations between Turkey
and Armenia for decades and is one of the stumbling blocks to their
improvement. Another problem is Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said the normalization of
relations with Turkey was not conditioned on the resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and recognition of the Armenian genocide
in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Sargsyan said the text of the protocols on the normalization of
relations between Armenia and Turkey did not mention Karabakh or the
word `genocide’.

He said Yerevan would seek to resolve the Karabakh issue in accordance
with the aspirations of the Armenian population of the disputed
enclave.

The president also said that Armenia would not give up attempts to
secure international recognition of genocide.

At the same time, he believes that these issues should not be an
obstacle to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara.

He expressed hope that a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh issue
would be achieved, but did not name any deadlines.

According to Sargsyan, this may happen in a distant future.

The first step towards normalization of bilateral relations, fully
severed in 1993 over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, was taken in the
autumn of 2008. Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan at the
invitation Sargsyan to watch a World Cup qualification game between
the national football teams of the two countries. He invited Sargsyan
to Ankara to a football game in October. Observers dubbed the visits
`football diplomacy’, and although some politicians say such informal
meeting between the leaders of the two countries should not be taken
seriously, experts believe that these contacts can play an important
role in the normalization of relations between the two countries.

Sargyasn said that Armenia was ready to establish normal relations
with Turkey without preconditions. `The ball is in the Turkish court,’
he said.

He is `deeply and sincerely convinced’ that Armenia `must establish
good relations with Turkey’, and this conviction did not develop
after his election as president.

Sargsyan believes that `such experienced diplomacy as the Turkish
one will assess the degree of sincerity’ of Armenian authorities in
the establishment of relations with Ankara without preconditions.

The president said talks with Turkey had `never discussed the problem
of Nagorno-Karabakh and the recognition of Armenian genocide’ in the
Ottoman Empire in 1915. `We do not condition normalization of relations
between the two countries on Turkey’s recognition of Armenian genocide
and hope that the Turks do not consider the termination of recognition
of genocide [by different countries] as such precondition’, he said.

At the same time, normalization of relations with Turkey does not mean
questioning the fact of genocide in 1915, the president said. `We
regret millions of innocent victims and should do everything we can
to prevent such tragedies in the future,’ Sargsyan said.

`We may have made a mistake in our relations with Turkey’, and they
will take a totally different turn, Sargsayan said. But `even if
it is a failure’, Armenia will `come out of this process stronger
because the international community will see’ that Yerevan `is ready
to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions’.

Erdogan said earlier that his country would not open its border with
Armenia until its troops leave occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

`The Karabakh conflict and the occupation of Azerbaijani territories
are the cause, and the closure of the border with Turkey is the
effect. Unless the cause is eliminated, the effects will remain,’
Erdogan said.

Erdogan said the Turkish-Armenian border would not be opened unless
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem was resolved.

`Turkey will not sign the final agreement with Armenia unless
Azerbaijan and Armenia reach consensus on Nagorno-Karabakh,’ he said.

`We will prepare the infrastructure and do preliminary work, but this
[the opening of the border] will depend entirely on the settlement
of the Armenian-Azerbaijani problem. It has to be settled first,’
the prime minister said.

Erdogan said his country had not and would not take steps that would
be detrimental to the national interests of Azerbaijan.

Ankara believes that the issue may be resolved only within the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, he said.

`Unless the Karabakh conflict is resolved, no peace in the region
will be possible,’ the prime minister said.

`Independence, calm and stability of Azerbaijan are as important to
us as independence and stability of Turkey,’ Erdogan said.

MAJOR CAR ACCIDENT IN YEREVAN, 7 INJURED

Aysor
March 8 2010
Armenia

March 7, at 10:00 p.m. a major car accident occurred on
Mashtots-Moscovyan intersection in Yerevan, near William Saroyan
monument. Seven people were hospitalized as a result.

Jeep Lincoln ARM-808 collided with Gazel vehicle 1273 S and Mercedes
22 LO 330.

As photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan told NEWS.am, the drunken driver
Jhangir Apresyan fled the location and was detained by the police on
Teryan St., near Armenian State Agrarian University.

Chief of RA Road Police Margar Ohanyan and Head of Yerevan Traffic
Police Arsen Arshakyan arrived in the accident site. RA Police
Department of Road Inspection launched an investigation to clarify
details.

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
March 4 2010

Turkish president regrets US house committee vote on Armenian resolution

TURKISH PRESIDENT EXPRESSES REGRET OVER APPROVAL OF ARMENIAN RESOLUTION

ANKARA (A.A) -Turkish President Abdullah Gul expressed his regret
after the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
approved the resolution on Armenian allegations.

The US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs approved
the resolution on incidents of 1915 – which took place shortly before
the fall of the Ottoman Empire – with 23 votes against 22.

Regarding approval of the resolution, Gul said, "this decision is not
reasonable. I strongly condemn it. It does not mean anything for
Turkish people. Turkey will not be responsible for negative outcomes
of this voting."

The resolution was proposed by Democrats Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone
and Republicans George Radanovich and Mark Kirk, all important figures
for the Armenian lobby in the US

Turkey strongly rejects the genocide allegations and regards the
events as civil strife in wartime which claimed lives of many Turks
and Armenians.

Every year between March 4 and April 24 alarm bells ring for relations
between Turkey and US, two close allies for decades.

The Armenian lobbies in the US pressure the US legislators to pass a
resolution urging the President to recognise the events as genocide.

Turkish legislators and officials pay visits to US House and hold
meetings with senior US officials and businessmen to prevent the
resolution from being adopted.

A similar resolution was adopted with 27 seven votes against 21 in
2007 but as a result of former President George W. Bush’s
intervention, the resolution was not brought to the House floor.

Artsakh pays special attention to strengthening relations with Diaspora

05.03.2010 19:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Friday, March 5 NKR President Bako Sahakyan met RA
Diaspora Ministry delegation led by Hranush Hakobyan.
The parties focused on issues aimed at strengthening of
Armenia-Diaspora ties, emphasizing important role of Artsakh in
unification of Armenians worldwide.

Bako Sahakyan stressed that Artsakh pays special attention to
strengthening relations with Diaspora Armenians and their engagement
in the development of Artsakh. The President gave high assessment to
the role of Diaspora Ministry in strengthening ties between Armenians
worldwide, Central Information Department at NKR President’s Office
reported.

examiner.com
March 5 2010

House ‘genocide’ resolution sparks controversy

March 5, 10:25 AMNY Military Headlines Examiner John Signoriello

The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution Thursday
that labeled Turkey’s early 20th-century atrocities against the
Armenian people as ‘genocide.’

The measure passed by a 23-22 vote.

Minutes after the vote, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to the U.S.

HR 252 states in part:

"The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman
Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly
2,000,000 Armenians…1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed
and 14,500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes."

Turkey’s Foreign Minister warned the Obama administration to impede
the resolution or "the picture ahead will not be a positive one,"
according to AFP.

Foreign Minister Davutoglu said the Obama administration had not put
sufficient weight behind efforts to block the vote and called on
Washington to do more to prevent the measure from now going to the
full House.

He complained of a lack of ‘strategic vision’ in Washington, adding
that the issue was a matter of ‘honor’ for his country.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration had
lobbied members of the committee to oppose the resolution.

According to WSJ, a White House spokesman said Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton had called House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman
Howard Berman (D-CA) prior to the vote to indicate that "further
congressional action could impede progress on normalization of
relations" between Turkey and Armenia.

Some commentators, particularly those with a pro-resolution bent,
mentioned that opposition to the proposal was ‘softer’ than in years
past.

———————————— ——————————————–

Turm oil in Turkey

The House resolution comes at a particularly bad time for Turkey,
which finds itself embroiled in a military coup controversy.

Seven high-ranking Turkish military officers were charged last
Wednesday with plotting a coup against the country’s Islamist-leaning
government, two days after as many as 50 officers were arrested and
accused of belonging to the plot, according to the Christian Science
Monitor.

Reuters reports that four admirals, a retired brigadier-general and
two retired colonels were jailed….

< Click here for an article about that topic >

——————————————- ————————————-

A WSJ article pointed out the President Obama’s opposition to the
genocide proposal actually undermined a campaign pledge he made in
January 2008 when he said "as president I will recognize the Armenian
genocide."

White House spokesman, Mike Hammer, said Thursday , according to WSJ:

"The president’s position on the events of 1915 is well known and his
view of that history has not changed."

Eighteen NY and NJ legislators co-sponsored the resolution, including
NY Reps Charles Rangel and Anthony Weiner.

A similar resolution is pending in the Senate, where NY Senator
Charles Schumer is a co-sponsor.

Committee approval of the resolution is the first step in the
legislative process.

Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that
deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general
debate.

A similar resolution languished in committee during the last
administration because President Bush opposed it.

NY Congressman, Michael McMahon, a member of the committee, opposed
the resolution.

< Click here for an article on that topic >

"If HR 252 is passed and Turkey decides to close its border to our
troops in Iraq or remove its $100 million investment in Afghanistan,
our Armed Forces will be forced to take longer, more dangerous routes
to and from Iraq, exposing them to a greater possibility of attack and
longer deployments," Rep. McMahon stated.

Turkey is the critical passageway for our troops to Iraq, he said,
shortening travel time and reducing the risk of an IED attack.

"Furthermore, as a critical Muslim NATO ally and partner in
Afghanistan, we rely on Turkey to protect our troops as part of the
broader Afghan reconstruction effort."

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush I, Bill Clinton and George
Bush II have all opposed a similar resolution based on similar
arguments, according to Rep. McMahon, while Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates, under both the Bush and Obama Administrations, has
warned against the passage of the resolution.

"If Turkey decides to withdraw its support for the US mission in Iraq
and Afghanistan, I know that my visits to Walter Reed and Arlington
will only increase," Rep McMahon stated. "Even with my profound
sympathy for the families of those who perished during the Ottoman
Empire, I cannot responsibly risk such a possibility."

Rep. McMahon represents the 13th Congressional District, which
includes all of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn.

He faces re-election in November.

Michael Allegretti, a possible GOP opponent, announced he was in favor
of the resolution.

`I urge the members of the House Foreign Relations to stand-up and
recognize the genocide which took place between 1915-1923," Mr.
Allegretti stated."It is unspeakable that one and a half million
Armenians lost their lives in an effort to erase them from their
homeland. Passage of this resolution would be a positive step for the
region."

Rep. McMahon called Allegretti’s position "reckless, irresponsible and
a serious threat to US national security and the safety of our Armed
Forces."

Many analysts have pointed out that passage of the resolution comes at
a time the US is seeking Turkey’s support for sanctions against Iran.

An article in the Jerusalem Post quoted an anonymous diplomatic source
as saying Turkey did not ask Israel’s help to lobby against the
resolution, as it has in years past, because of deteriorating
relations between the two countries.

That article mentions that Israeli official Haim Oron has called on
the Knesset to recognize the Armenian genocide.

"It is incumbent upon Israel’s Knesset, in particular, to conduct a
thorough debate and reach a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide that occurred nearly 100 years ago," said Oron, warning that
"the attempt to deny it and erase it from history is part of a
campaign that has consequences for other denials."

The Jerusalem Post article mentions that, in 2007, Anti-Defamation
League national director Abe Foxman incurred Turkish wrath when he
issued a statement saying that the Turkish actions toward the
Armenians from 1915-1918 were "tantamount to genocide."

Relations between Israel and Turkey have showed signs of breaking down
lately, the Jerusalem Post article states; however, Israel has avoided
recognizing the Armenian genocide at all costs, and the government has
in the past thwarted all attempts to promote such an official
recognition.

A similar ‘genocide’ dispute is one of several issues bogging down
negotiations between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols in October of 2009 to
establish diplomatic ties and reopen their shared border in a deal
hailed as a historic step toward ending decades of hostility, yet the
parliaments of both countries have not ratified the measures

Turkey’s refusal stems, in part, from (Armenian President) Yerevan’s
attempts to have the massacres internationally recognized as genocide,
according an AFP article written earlier this year.

There is another sticking point.

Turkish officials have repeatedly said the agreements will not be
ratified without progress in the dispute over Nagorny-Karabakh,
according to Mariam Harutunian of AFP.

Backed by Armenian President Yerevan, ethnic Armenian separatists
seized control of Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from
Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that claimed an estimated
30,000 lives, she explained, adding that Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan–with which it
has strong ethnic, trade and energy links–against Yerevan’s support
for the enclave’s separatists.

The Jerusalem Post article quoted the head of Armenia’s parliament as
saying that it will not ratify the deal before the Turkish parliament
does.

NY-Military-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m3d5-House-gen ocide-resolution-sparks-controversy

BERMAN ENDORSES ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Jewish Telegraphic Agency
March 4 2010

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A key Jewish lawmaker urged passage of a resolution
recognizing the Ottoman genocide against Armenians.

The endorsement by U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman
of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, at the
outset of his committee’s hearing Thursday reflected growing Jewish,
pro-Israel and congressional distancing from Turkey because of recent
tensions with Israel.

"Turkey is a vital and, in most respects, a loyal ally of the United
States in a volatile region," Berman said. "We have also been a loyal
ally to Turkey, and should continue to be so. Be that as it may,
nothing justifies Turkey’s turning a blind eye to the reality of the
Armenian genocide."

Such language is unusually blunt. In the past, the pro-Israel community
has lobbied hard against previous attempts to pass similar resolutions,
citing warnings from Turkish officials that it could harm the alliance
not only with the United States but with Israel — although Israel
has always tried to avoid mentioning the World War I-era genocide.

In the last year or so, however, officials of American pro-Israel
groups have said that while they will not support new resolutions,
they will no longer oppose them, citing Turkey’s heightened rhetorical
attacks on Israel and a flourishing of outright anti-Semitism the
government has done little to stem.

That has lifted the fetters for lawmakers like Berman, who had been
loath to abet in the denial of a genocide; Berman and a host of
other members of the House’s unofficial Jewish caucus have signed on
as co-sponsors.

The bill is a victory as well for lawmakers from California, the
home of a substantial Armenian community. U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), the House speaker, is known to sympathize with the
resolution’s sentiments, although she has kept it from making it to
the House floor for a full vote.

The nonbinding resolution would not carry legal weight, but would
set a precedent for U.S. officialdom to use the word "genocide" in
describing the massacres. Turkey slashed ties with France for a few
years after its legislature passed a similar resolution.

4/1010932/berman-endorses-armenian-genocide-resolu tion