Author: Navasardian Karapet

PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA TO VISIT ARMENIA

rill
02:09 pm | March 03, 2010

Official

March 16-18, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia
will pay a visit to Armenia at the invitation of His Holiness Karekin
II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

On March 16 a welcome ceremony will be held in Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin followed by signing of an agreement between Sergiev Posad
and Etchmiadzin.

The spiritual leaders of Armenia and Russia will lay a wreath at the
monument to Russian soldiers who died during the Russian-Persian War
(1826-1828).

On March 17 the Russian Patriarch will visit Tsitsernakaberd, Armenian
Genocide Museum and plant a tree in the Memory Alley. On the same day
Patriarch Kirill will visit Kanaker’s St. Virgin Church and meet with
the representatives of Russian community. The Patriarchs are shecduled
to meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in St. Grigor Lusavorich
Church on March 17.

The "Freedom and Responsibility" book by Patriarch, translated into
Armenian, will be presented at the Yerevan State University.

On March 18 the laying of foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church
is due in Yerevan. On the same day the two Patriarchs will meet
representatives of intelligentsia and mass media.

TURKISH FURY AS US CONGRESS PANEL LABELS ARMENIAN MASSACRE ‘GENOCIDE’
Giles Whittell

The Australian
March 5 2010

WASHINGTON: One of the worst massacres of 20th-century history came
back to haunt international politics today when a poweful Washington
panel voted to call the murder of about 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey
"genocide".

By a knife-edge vote, after more than three hours of debate, the
House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved a resolution calling on
President Barack Obama to "characterise the systematic and deliberate
annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide".

The vote went ahead despite last-minute pleas from the White House
and State Department and triggered a furious reaction from Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister.

"We condemn this resolution, which accuses the Turkish nation of a
crime it has not committed," Ankara said.

As Armenian observers applauded the vote on Capitol Hill, the Turkish
Ambassador to Washington was recalled.

The Obama administration may still be able to prevent a full vote
in the House of Representatives but today’s resolution threatened to
poison America’s relations with its closest Muslim ally. Washington
depends on Turkey for access to northern Iraq and in its regional
efforts to isolate Iran.

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The vote, with 23 congressmen in favour and 22 against, will also
jeopardise historic efforts begun last year to create normal diplomatic
relations between Turkey and Armenia. The resolution "would harm
the normalisation process, and it is wrong," Burak Ozugergin, of the
Turkish Foreign Ministry, had warned before the vote. "The substance
is wrong."

Mr Obama promised as a candidate to break with longstanding US practice
and start calling the First World War era killings genocide if elected
to the White House. He broke the promise last year, refusing to use
the word on a visit to Ankara, where he praised Turkey as a model
Muslim democracy.

He telephoned his Turkish counterpart this week to thank him for
working towards a rapprochement with Armenia, while Hillary Clinton,
the Secretary of State, had implored the Foreign Affairs Committee
not to go ahead with the vote.

The committee chairman, Howard Berman, refused to be swayed. At
the start of the hearing he called Turkey a vital and usually loyal
ally but insisted that nothing justified "turning a blind eye to the
reality of the Armenian genocide".

Mr Berman, a California Democrat who counts powerful Armenian emigres
among his Los Angeles constituents, said that Turkey’s duty to face
up to its past compared to that of Germany to face up to the Holocaust
and South Africa to acknowledge the full horror of apartheid.

Ankara accepts that many thousands of Christian Armenians living in
what was then eastern Anatolia died in blood-letting by Muslim Ottoman
troops in 1915. It rejects the term "genocide" and says that the 1.5
million figure for the final death toll is exaggerated, but experts,
including some of Turkey’s own most respected historians, disagree.

Taner Akcam, a professor at Clark University in Massachusetts,
became the first Turkish specialist to call the killings genocide in
his comprehensive study A Shameful Act, published in English three
years ago.

Since then Turkish and Armenian leaders have begun a normalisation
process that included a football match in Turkey between the two
countries’ national teams last year, attended by the Armenian
President.

The last time a resolution on the events of 1915 was debated in
Congress it was approved by the House committee but never voted
on by the full House of Representatives after Bush Administration
officials urged congressional leaders not to table a vote for the
sake of US-Turkish relations. Even so, Turkey temporarily withdrew
its Ambassador to Washington.

In a sign of the power of historical consensus to yield concrete
restitution, the French insurance giant Axa began making 8000-euro
payments to families of Armenian victims of the 1915 killings who
bought policies from companies that Axa has since taken over.

France and Canada have classified the killings as genocide. Britain,
like the US, has not.

urkish-fury-as-us-congress-panel-labels-armenian-m assacre-genocide/story-e6frg6so-1225837298499

ARMENIAN FM RECEIVES EPP PRESIDENT WILFRIED MARTENS

Panorama.am
14:07 04/03/2010

Politics

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received today the
delegation headed by Wilfried Martens, President of the European
People’s Party.

The interlocutors discussed the process of development of Armenia-EU
relations, issues related to the Eastern Partnership Program, attaching
importance to the formation of a parliamentary cooperation platform
between EU members and the neighbor states, which could contribute
to the deepening of relations with the European Parliament and
cooperation between the countries of the region in a new format,
MFA press and infromation department reported.

Mr. Edward Nalbandian and Mr. Wilfried Martens talked about the
steps towards the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and the latest
developments in Nagorno-Karabakh settlement talks. The interlocutors
exchanged views on a number of international and regional issues.

NKR MUST ACT AS NEGOTIATOR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS

news.am
March 4 2010
Armenia

At his meeting with reporters on March 4, Vahram Atanesyan, Chairman
of the Foreign Relations Committee, NKR Parliament, stated that no
essential changes have taken place in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process nor should they be expected in the near future. He pointed
out a certain halt in the negotiations.

Speaking of Azerbaijan’s position, Atanesyan stated that Azerbaijan
is trying to misrepresent the problem and the peace process, offering
its peculiar interpretation of the principle of peoples’ right to
self-determination.

"By the peoples’ right to self-determination we mean the international
recognition of exercised right to self-determination, that is, the
de facto independence. We believe this is the best solution to the
problem. Thus, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) will actually
be recognized as a state formed on the basis of the peoples’
right to self-determination. Thereafter, the NKR, as a negotiator
with full rights, will be able to discuss all the controversial
issues with Azerbaijan. This is our view of the problem," Atanesyan
said. "The policy of the NKR Executive led by the President is that
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is impossible to resolve without the
NKR’s immediate participation," he said.

The NKR MP proposed stopping to make use of the "liberated territories"
phrase, as, according to the NKR Constitution, they are part of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Also, he proposed the term "repatriation" be used
instead of "resettlement," as from 1923 to 1988, when it was part of
Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh was subjected to demographic aggression.

U.S. BUSINESSMEN URGE CONGRESSMEN TO REJECT GENOCIDE BILL

news.am
March 3 2010
Armenia

U.S. businessmen are urging the House of Representatives to reject
Genocide Resolution scheduled for a vote on March 4, 2010 in Congress,
RFE/RL reports.

According to the source, business leaders of U.S. aerospace and defense
industry sent a joint letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
saying that adoption of the resolution might lead to "a rupture in
U.S.-Turkey relations" and put American jobs at risk.

Chef executives from aerospace and defense industry, including
companies like Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Raytheon Co and others
informed that export to Turkey exceeded $7 billion in 2009. According
to them, the export indicator is likely to reach similar level in
2010 and if the resolution is passed tens thousands of U.S. citizens
might lose their jobs.

REP. STEVE COHEN — TENNESSEE’S FIRST JEWISH CONGRESSMAN — AMONG THOSE URGING COLLEAGUES TO BLOCK ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
By Brantley Hargrove in Congress

Nashville Scene
/rep_steve_cohen_among_those_ur.php
March 2 2010

Congressman Steve Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Memphis,
is Tennessee’s first Jewish congressman. With that in mind, does it
seem a bit odd to anyone else that, according to a letter to the
House Foreign Affairs Committee obtained by The Hill, Cohen would
join Texas’ Kay Granger and Kentucky’s Ed Whitfield in opposition to
a House resolution that would recognize as genocide the killing of
1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I?

To be fair, Pith isn’t sure what to think about these kinds of
resolutions. Do they really make a difference? Sure, a resolution
recognizing the innumerable wrongs perpetrated against blacks in
this country was deserved — no, required. In fact, Cohen himself
introduced legislation in the House that would apologize for slavery
and Jim Crow laws.

So it seems out of character for a relatively progressive Jewish
congressman to work to kill a resolution to recognize the wholesale
slaughter of a people as what it is: genocide. Of course, there are
a handful of arguable reasons why we shouldn’t inflame our Turkish
allies. For one, an attempt to forge a long-nonexistent relationship
between Armenia and Turkey is under way, though some Armenian writers
question the motives underlying it — possibly pipelines through the
country to the oil- and gas-rich Caspian Sea.

Which leads us into a second reason why certain legislators might
argue against the resolution: Billions of barrels of oil and trillions
of cubic meters of natural gas reside in the Caspian Sea region,
with nothing less than energy security and a pipeline through Turkey
at stake.

Last, but almost certainly not least, most of our military shipments
to Afghanistan and Iraq are funneled through an airbase in Turkey.

They’ve threatened to cut our access before — although it’s been
argued pretty persuasively, in terms of who needs who, that Turkey
stands to lose more with a souring of Turkish-American relations than
we do.

Sure, there are some sensible arguments to be made for abandoning this
resolution. But then there are men like Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who denies the Holocaust ever took place. The question
is, Congressman Cohen, does refusing to utter the "G" word unanimously
when speaking of the Armenian genocide amount to the same thing?

PSRC: ELECTRICITY PRICE FOR CONSUMERS TO REMAIN UNCHANGED IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.03.2010 15:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Public services regulation commission of Armenia
at its March 1, 2010 meeting discussed operating rates for energy
companies, PSRC press office reported. The Board approved new rates
for companies of energy sphere. According to PSRC press office,
electricity price for consumers will remain unchanged in Armenia.

MOSCOW ARMENIANS COMMEMORATE 1992 SUMGAIT POGROMS

2010/03 /01 | 15:28

society

A wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 1992 pogrom against
Armenians in Sumgait was held in Moscow in the courtyard of the Holy
Resurrection Armenian Church.

Participating was a delegation from the RoA Embassy in Moscow headed
by Ambassador Oleg Yesayan, members of the Armenian Union of Russia,
representatives from various Armenian social and civic organizations
and hundreds of local Armenians. Officiating at the requiem liturgy
was Bishop Yezras Nersissyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of
Russia and New Nakhijevan.

TURKISH PREMIER WARNS ARMENIA AND USA

news.az
March 1 2010
Azerbaijan

Recep Tayyip Erdogan The Turkish Premier has spoken of the upcoming
discussion of the resolution on "Armenian genocide" in the US Congress.

"If on March 4 the US Congress passes a resolution on "Armenian
genocide", the process of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement will be
stopped", Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan told last Sundat at
the session of the EU group on legal reforms, according to Hurriyet
newspaper.

"Our deputy group is currently in the United States. We also continue
this process and we are in a constant contact with all concerned
parties. The process launched in Switzerland is underway and if the
opposite side demonstrates constructivism, I think we will manage to
gain results. Yet, if on March 4 and April 24 the United States take
a wrong step, the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement will be stopped. I
think the US Congressmen will take this into account before taking
a decision on this issue", Erdogan said.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Feb 27 2010

Deputy Speaker: Adopting resolution on "Armenian genocide" to have
negative impact on U.S democratic image

Submission of the so-called "Armenian genocide" to the U.S. Congress
for discussions will have a negative impact on this country’s
democratic image in the world, Azerbaijani Parliamentary Deputy
Speaker said.

"The U.S. as a super power should not put the serious global problems
aside and become a representative of Armenians’ interests. This
situation damages the U.S. prestige. It also has a negative impact on
the U.S. democratic image, their role in the development of the world
democracy," Azerbaijani Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Bahar Muradova
said in an interview to the ruling New Azerbaijan Party’s website.

Claims on the "Armenian genocide" represent allegation on the mass
extermination of Armenians residing in Anatolia during World War I.
Turkey considers these events as the Armenian-Turkish confrontation.

If the Congress adopts the resolution on the "Armenian genocide", it
will have a negative impact on the U.S.-Azerbaijani relations. "As one
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the United States in this issue
should adhere to a neutral position. It is wrong to take such a step,
guided only by the Armenian electorate. Many of the candidates give a
promise to recognize the so-called "Armenian genocide" during the
presidential elections in the U.S., and then become hostage of these
promises. I think that the Obama administration should take important
decisions in this regard," Muradova said.

She believes that every Azerbaijani citizen should express his own
opinion on this issue. "I’d like to note the fact that the Armenians
try to prevent the activities taking place abroad, which are devoted
to the Khojali genocide. I witnessed this fact in Austria, so we must
intensify our struggle. Azerbaijani Parliament’s position on the
so-called "Armenian genocide" is known to all. We express our strong
protest in connection with its discussion," Muradova said.