Author: nina hovnanian

TURQUIE
Öcalan incite de nouveau les Kurdes à la paix en Turquie

Le chef rebelle kurde Abdullah Öcalan a réitéré samedi, à l’occasion
du Nouvel an kurde, sa volonté de mettre un terme au conflit meurtrier
engagé en 1984 par son mouvement contre le gouvernement turc.

A moins de trois mois des élections législatives en Turquie, dans un
message lu devant plus de 200 000 personnes réunies à Diyarbakir
(capitale officieuse du Kurdistan turc), le fondateur du Parti des
travailleurs des Kurdistan (PKK) a appelé son mouvement à tenir
rapidement un congrès pour mettre fin à sa lutte armée, qui a fait
quelque 40 000 morts en plus de trente années.

Dans un précédent message lu le 28 février, le fondateur du PKK avait
déjà évoqué une première fois la tenue d’un congrès pour mettre fin à
la lutte armée. “Nous marchons vers un avenir où les critères
démocratiques universels et la paix s’imposent”, a poursuivi M.
Öcalan, qui a appelé à l’adoption en Turquie d’une “nouvelle
Constitution démocratique qui prenne en compte la liberté et l’égalité
des citoyens”.

“Ce message est positif à tous points de vue”, s’est immédiatement
réjoui le vice-Premier ministre turc Bülent Arinç. Le gouvernement
islamo-conservateur turc a engagé à l’automne 2012 des négociations
directes, via ses services de renseignement, avec le chef du PKK, qui
purge une peine de réclusion à perpétuité sur l’île-prison d’Imrali,
près d’Istambul.

dimanche 22 mars 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

House of Commons to discuss Armenian Genocide Centennial on 23 March

17:30, 21 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 21 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. MPs of the House of Commons of the UK
Parliament will discuss the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide on
March 23rd. As “Armenpress” reports, this is mentioned in the Week
Ahead section of BBC. “On Monday, The Commons meets at 2.30pm for Home
Office questions – after which the prime minister will make a
statement on the outcome of the latest European Council. Any further
statements or urgent question will be taken when he is done. Then the
Lib Dem former health minister, Paul Burstow, will launch a ten minute
rule bill on Tobacco Manufacturers Producer Responsibility. A
consultation on a tobacco levy was announced by the Chancellor, George
Osborne, in the 2014 Autumn Statement, and this is part of a
cross-party campaign to direct the money – perhaps as much as £500m –
to pay for a programme of tobacco control measures including Stop
Smoking Services currently funded by local councils. The bill’s
supporters view it as an important way of boosting funding for
preventive health measures. MPs will move on to the final stage of the
Budget debate – where the chosen theme is jobs, pensions and savings –
which suggests the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith,
will be facing Labour’s Rachel Reeves. And the day will end with an
adjournment debate on the centenary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide –
led by Labour MP Stephen Pound,” as BBC reports.

KARABAGH
Karabagh : L’armée de défense montre les preuves matérielles de l’attaque azérie

Le ministère de la Défense du Haut-Karabagh a publié des photographies
de plusieurs lance-roquettes, d’un fusil d’assaut avec un champ de
vision de nuit et d’autres munitions dont il affirme qu’ils auraient
été laissé sur le champ de bataille par des commandos azerbaïdjanais
qui ont lancé une attaque meurtrière sur les positions de l’Armée de
Défense le 19 Mars.

Trois soldats arméniens ont été tués et quatre autres ont été blessés
dans le Haut-Karabagh ce jour-là dans un échange de coups de feu
acharné dont les autorités militaires à Stepanakert affirment qu’il
aurait fait au moins deux morts du côté azerbaïdjanais.

Selon le communiqué publié par le ministère de la Défense du
Haut-Karabagh, les forces du Karabagh ont repoussé l’attaque après un
engagement de deux heures et auraient détruit le groupe ennemi en
approche.

Les trois soldats arméniens identifiés sont Hakob Khachatryan (né en
1996), Eduard Hayrapetyan (né en 1995) et Arshak Harutyunyan (né en
1995) qui ont reçu à titre posthume par le président du Karabakh Bako
Sahakian la médaille “du Courage”.

Pendant ce temps, le ministère arménien des Affaires étrangères (MAE)
a strictement condamné l’attaque azerbaïdjanaise.

“Une fois encore Bakou affiche ouvertement son mépris pour les appels
de la communauté internationale à s’abstenir d’actions et de
déclarations susceptibles d’aggraver la situation”, a déclaré le
porte-parole du ministère Tigran Balayan dans un communiqué

“Il est évident que ce comportement aventureux est un grave danger
pour la sécurité et la stabilité de la région. La responsabilité
directe de la situation, qui a été aggravé à la suite des actions
provocatrices, incombe aux autorités de l’Azerbaïdjan “, a-t-il
ajouté.

Le Ministre arménien de la Défense Seyran Ohanian a également publié
une déclaration, disant que la partie arménienne est prête à tout
développement de la situation. “Mais je ne vois pas de danger
d’hostilités à grande échelle,” a-t-il souligné.

dimanche 22 mars 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

FROM GALLIPOLI TO ARARAT

Hurriyet Daily news, Turkey
March 20 2015

by YUSUF KANLI

Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Britain… What do they have in
common? This week not only these countries, but the entire world
remembered the heroes of the Gallipoli Campaign on the centenary of
the historic battle. Was it important only because of its “nation
building” effect on Australians and New Zealanders? Was it not the
Gallipoli Campaign which produced to the forefront a great Turkish
commander, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who only a couple of years later,
was to become the commander of the Turkish War of Liberation?

The fallen heroes of Gallipoli lay side-by-side today on what was
the battlefield of yesterday. Was it not Ataturk who in response
to a call for the repatriation of the remains declared those enemy
soldiers who lost their lives in brave battles against the Turks on
the Turkish homeland were no longer enemies but distinguished sons
of this nation, resting in peace and should not be disturbed?

Indeed Gallipoli has been very important for Australians and New
Zealanders or the Anzacs of yesterday. Through them, it has become very
important for Turks as well. Yes, it is sad to admit but the Turkish
state learned from them how to respect their fallen heroes beyond
solemn funerals. If not for the great efforts of the Australians and
New Zealanders who travel to Gallipoli by the tens of thousands every
year to respect their fallen heroes, forcing the Gallipoli cemeteries
to turn into some sort of “nationhood pilgrimage,” Turks would not
have begun to pressure their governments to take care of the Turkish
cemeteries, convert the battle grounds of the Gallipoli Campaign into
a national park and make the region easily accessible. Was it not sad
to read up until a few years ago stories of human remains erupting
from the fields of farms in the region?

Was not the Canakkale Monument – erected in memory of soldiers who
despite all odds staged a brave defense and did not allow enemies
to pass through the Canakkale Strait – in a desperate situation up
until few years ago? Now, not only the monument but also the museum
reflects the gratitude of the nation to the heroes of the campaign
that marked the first victory of this nation since the Balkan defeat
and thus helped revive national self-confidence. Could the under-armed
Turkey with almost no fighting power wage a War of Liberation without
the Mustafa Kemal of Canakkale or the self-confidence that campaign
produced?

How many Turks have walked through Canakkale or at least visited
the Canakkale Monument? Walking through the cemeteries or reading
through the last letters of fallen soldiers to their families, it
can sadly be seen those who fought on the Gallipoli front were not
only ethnic Turks, but representatives of all ethnicities throughout
the death-bed-ridden Ottoman Empire. Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Greeks,
Armenians and Assyrians are all resting in the Gallipoli cemeteries
side-by-side in peace…

The spirit of empire is long gone. Despite all the propaganda to the
contrary, republican Turkey, unfortunately, could not survive that
imperial multi-cultural heritage of cohabitation. Indeed, on its death
bed the empire did whatever possible to kill that culture anyhow. The
Armenian problem, for example, is a headache inherited from the
same period. How did it happen? Was it indeed a systematic genocide
campaign as Armenians claim with some political agenda today? Or,
was it a product of a web of reasons including but not restricted to
conditions of a decaying empire, gang activities and collaboration
with the enemy, making it compulsory to apply forced resettlement
and a civil war? Was it indeed a civil war-like situation that both
the Turks and Armenians lost heavily? Whatever the case, the minority
always suffers more in such ordeals than the majority. One should as
well try to understand the “nation building” role of the 1915 events
on the Armenian people.

Still, why can Turks and Armenians not do what the Turks and
Australians and New Zealanders did and convert a huge disaster for
all into a joint commemoration, a source of binding friendship? Why
is it that while Gallipoli was converted into some sort of festival
ground where enemy forefathers are remembered in equal pride, Turks
and Armenians still wage verbal fights for ownership on the image of
Mount Ararat?

Obviously, there is a need to explore and bring to light what indeed
happened to Armenians and Turks of the Ottoman Empire who lost
their lives in 1915. Rather than withdrawing from parliament the
protocols that included the creation of a joint history commission
of international historians to explore the 1915 events, the Armenian
president must have asked for parliamentary approval. Antagonism,
Turkish enmity and getting parliaments to adopt genocide resolutions
won’t settle this problem, Yerevan must talk with Ankara.

March/20/2015

NKR Defense Minister Movses Hakobyan visits soldiers injured after
Azerbaijan’s diversion

21:42, 20 March, 2015

STEPANAKERT, 20 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Commander of the Defense Army, Lieutenant
General Movses Hakobyan visited today the central military hospital of
Stepanakert and met with the soldiers injured while stopping the
attack of the opponent in the north of the Defense Army on March 19.

As the Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic reports to “Armenpress”, the minister asked
about their health condition and talked to the soldiers and their
parents. Emphasizing their acts in particular, the army commander
expressed his gratitude to the soldiers and the attending parents for
raising patriotic and self-dedicated children and wished the soldiers
speedy recovery.

Se presentaron oficialmente las actividades del centenario del
Genocidio Armenio en Argentina

17.3.15

Hoy se realizó una conferencia de prensa en el Hotel Intercontinental
para presentar oficialmente las actividades del centenario del
Genocidio Armenio en Argentina.

Los representantes de la Comisión Conmemorativa del Centenario del
Genocidio Armenio en Argentina, Sergio Nahabetian (izquierda), Jorge
Dolmadjian (centro) y Carlos Manoukian(derecha), junto a
representantes de las comunidades armenias de Córdoba y Rosario,
anunciaron la serie de eventos que se llevarán a cabo a lo largo del
país, entre los que se destacan el concierto de música clásica que se
realizará en el Monumento a los Españoles el 28 de marzo, un acto
cultural en la Feria del Libro en La Rural el 25 de abril, la
tradicional marcha de protesta a la residencia del embajador de
Turquía el 28 de abril y un acto en el Luna Park el 29 de abril.

“Se toma simbólicamente como el comienzo genocidio contra los armenios
el 24 de abril, fecha en que se produjeron los arrestos de gran parte
de la dirigencia, intelectuales y docentes armenios. Esta
intelectualidad fue arrestada y en los días siguientes, asesinada.
Luego se desarrolló el plan de deportación, una orden del gobierno
para desalojar a la población y trasladarlos a los desiertos de Siria.
En ese traslado, la población fue masacrada o murió de hambre”,
explicó Dolmadjian.

“La conmemoración del genocidio se construye sobre dos ejes: memoria y
reclamo. Es un pedido de verdad y justicia. Cuando se habla de verdad,
hay que referirse a la política negacionista que desarrolla el Estado
turco en relación con el Genocidio Armenio. La política se instaura
con el nacimiento de la República de Turquía. Luego de los juicios a
los genocidas que llevó a cabo la justicia turca. Esos juicios fueron
anulados por el entonces líder y posterior fundador de la República de
Turquía, Mustafá Kemal (Atatürk)”, indicó Dolmadjian.

“Cuando escuchamos al presidente turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, no solo
habla de continuar con esta política sino de profundizarla. Sería
bueno que el presidente Erdogan siguiera el ejemplo de algunos
mandatarios. No puedo dejar de recordar al canciller alemán, Willy
Brandt, cuando en 1970 se arrodilló frente al monumento que recuerda a
los caídos en el Gueto de Varsovia. Esa foto recorrió todo el mundo y
es un gesto de cómo el Estado alemán pide perdón por los crímenes
cometidos durante el nazismo. Sin ir muy lejos, aquí el 24 de marzo de
2004, el presidente Néstor Kirchner, cuando inauguró el Museo de la
Memoria, en ese lugar que es un símbolo de los peores campos de
concentración que tuvo nuestro país, la ESMA, pidió perdón en nombre
del Estado argentino”, finalizó Dolmadjian.

Consultado por la posición del Papa Francisco, Manoukian subrayó que,
cuando era Cardenal, “era un asiduo visitante de los actos que se
realizaban en conmemoración del Genocidio Armenio. El hecho de que
haya resuelto realizar una misa en el Vaticano el 12 de abril,
ceremonia que va a dar él en persona, habla a las claras de su
posición actual, que es la misma de siempre a pesar de las
responsabilidades que ha asumido. Sin duda está alineado con los
reclamos que tiene la nación armenia”.

Los oradores confirmaron la presencia del presidente de Francia,
François Hollande, y su par ruso, Vladimir Putin, en Armenia, mientras
que Nahabetian expresó que “para nosotros, como comunidad, sería de
muchísimo agrado que la presidenta visite Armenia”. “Nuestra intención
es emplazar un reconocimiento al presidente Kirchner y al presidente
Alfonsín en el Tsitsernakaberd, el monumento al genocidio en Ereván,
Armenia”, anunció. Nahabetian se refirió también a la presencia de
Azerbaiyán en Argentina, país que niega el genocidio junto con
Turquía, y recordó los casos en que el gobierno azerí intentó, sin
éxito, sponsorear la camiseta del club San Lorenzo, o cuando la
cancillería de Azerbaiyán puso en una lista negra al empresario
Eduardo Eurnekian, al periodista de Clarín, Marcelo Cantelmi, y a él
mismo.

“I am happy to accept that Armenia isn’t invited to the EEU events”:
T. Poghosyan (video)

14:23 | March 21,2015 | Politics

It isn’t the first year that our soldiers have proved that they
deserve to be called professionals, today announced the NA Deputy
Tevan Poghosyan touching upon the recent tension on the border and the
adversary’s sabotage, “Still last summer they proved that they didn’t
differ from the “professionals” trained in Turkey. Since 1994 our Army
have proved that the front line is in our hands. The Army implements
its function and we must rely on our boys.”

What relates to the view that not the young but the professionals must
keep the borders, Mr. Poghosyan noted, “I wish we had devices so that
nobody stands on the border, I wish there were robots and devices,
which would fight against the adversary.”

The NA lawmaker doesn’t connect the adversary’s recent activation with
Serzh Sargsyan’s speech at forum “At the foot of Mount Ararat”, “Let’s
remember Seyran Ohanyan’s speeches at the beginning of the year: he
said that the adversary would get active. So it is baseless to connect
the activation with a single speech. As far as April 24 approaches,
they will become more and more aggressive: they are serving their
friend and neighbor Turkey.”

By the way, yesterday the meeting of three leaders of the EEU member
countries was held in Astana. Armenia wasn’t invited to that meeting.
Asked what it means, Tevan Poghosyan answered, “Being a person who
voted against the EEU and doesn’t believe in the existence of that
union, I am happy to accept that Armenia isn’t invited to those
events.”

COMMUNIQUÉ DE LA FRA DACHNAKTSOUTIOUN
La FRA se félicite des déclarations de Harlem Désir sur le droit à
l’auto-détermination du Haut Karabakh

Mardi 17 mars 2015, à l’Assemblée Nationale, à l’occasion des
questions au gouvernement, le Secrétaire d’Etat des Affaires
européennes Harlem Désir a répondu à une question du député
Jean-Claude Mignon sur le rôle que la France entendait jouer dans le
processus de règlement du Haut Karabakh.

Le Secrétaire d’Etat aux Affaires européennes a d’abord rappelé qu’au
Haut Karabakh, les populations arméniennes ont trop souffert de la
guerre et que le statu quo n’était dans l’intérêt de personne.

Puis, Harlem Désir a rappelé que la France était favorable à une
solution sur la base des principes de Madrid a savoir le non-recours à
la force, le respect de l’intégrité territoriale des États et le droit
à l’autodétermination des peuples. Et de conclure en affirmant que le
gouvernement et le Président étaient pleinement mobilisés pour régler
le conflit du Haut-Karabakh et pour défendre le droit à
l’autodétermination dans cette région.

La FRA Dachnaktsoutioun se félicite de cette déclaration importante
d’Harlem Désir prise au nom du gouvernement français. Elle démontre
que la France entend bien soutenir comme elle s’y était engagée le
droit du peuple du Haut Karabakh à l’auto-détermination. Elle
intervient dans un contexte marqué par les violations permanentes du
cessez le feu par l’Azerbaïdjan et les déclarations belliqueuses de
Ilham Aliev. Elle démontre que malgré un lobby permanent de la part de
l’Azerbaïdjan, la France n’entend pas céder sur ses valeurs et
notamment pas sur la volonté exprimée par le peuple du Karabakh de
vivre en paix, sur ses terres, dans un Artsakh indépendant.

Paris le 20 mars 2015

FRA Dachnaktsoutioun– Europe occidentale

H. Désir répond à une QAG de Jean-Claude Mignon… par harlemdesir

samedi 21 mars 2015,
Ara (c)armenews.com

Expert: Syria’s Armenian-populated Kessab may face new attacks

15:20, 21.03.2015

YEREVAN. – Although the predominately Armenian-populated region of
Kessab in northwestern Syria is now controlled by the Syrian
government forces, the attacks on March 21 of last year may repeat.

Arab Studies specialist Armen Petrosyan stated the aforementioned at a
press conference on Saturday.

Petrosyan stressed that Kessab is in the Latakia Governorate, which is
populated by the followers of the religious affiliation of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad, and therefore it has a target value.

“No one can give a guarantee that Kessab will not be attacked
[again],” the Arab Studies specialist noted.

Petrosyan found it difficult to make predictions on a possible
Turkey-sanctioned attack against Kessab on April 24, the centennial of
the Armenian Genocide. He added, however, that Turkey would not want
to create new problems for itself in the propaganda domain.

“Some local attacks are possible, but it is wrong to predict such
large-scale attacks as happened last year on March 21,” the analyst
said.

In his words, the main reason for the Arab Spring–i.e. the recent
uprisings across the Middle East–was that an attempt was made to
institute Western democratic values in the Middle East.

German journalist: Turkey should change mindset on Armenian Genocide

01:10, 21.03.2015

YEREVAN. – Europe should discuss the matter with Turkey that if it
wants to be included in Europe, it should change its attitude toward
the Armenian Genocide issue and realize its huge mistake.

The chairman of the European Youth4Media Network association, Joachim
Musholt, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, the Turkish government is closed and not ready to
cooperate on this matter.

“I’ve come to Armenia to learn more about the Armenian Genocide. I’m
from Germany. Our association works with the media,” Musholt noted.
“We plan to implement projects with the youth on this matter, since
not everyone in the Western countries knows about the Armenian
Genocide.”

To the query on what call he would make upon the Turkish government
which continues denying the fact of the Armenian Genocide, the German
journalist responded that even though the great majority of the
Turkish society does not want to speak about this issue, the rest are
quite open.

“I hope we will be able to convince these people to deepen contacts;
but the Turkish society is much closed for that issue. Germany also
committed genocide, the Holocaust, but the Germans apologized,”
stressed the head of the European Youth4Media Network association. “I
believe this is a good example for other countries.”