Author: nina hovnanian

Panorama.am
21/01/2015

CHRISTINA MARANCI: SAVE MREN CATHEDRAL FROM COLLAPSING – CALL FOR ACTION

Mren Cathedral (in Kars region of Western Armenia), which is considered a
Masterpiece of world art and the product of the Golden Age of Armenian
Architecture, is still on the verge of collapse. Mren is included in the World
Monuments Fund Watch List and needs urgent action to be saved. Panorama.am
has conducted an interview on this issue with Dr. Christina Maranci=80`
Arthur H. Dadian and Ara T. Ozetemel Associate Professor of Armenian Art at
Tufts University and one of the world’s authorities on the Cathedral of
Mren.

Nvard Chalikyan: Dr. Maranci, in 2013 you issued a call to save the 7th
century Mren Cathedral in the Kars region of Western Armenia (present-day
Turkey). You have warned that the Cathedral, which is referred to as =80=9Ca
masterpiece of world art and the product of the Golden Age of Armenian
Architecture’, is on the verge of collapse. What is the main significance
of Mren Cathedral both as an architectural and religious monument?

Christina Maranci: Mren is important as the largest surviving domed
basilica of seventh-century Armenia, and one of the largest (Ani Cathedral
is actually slightly shorter in length). It is a particularly refined
example of the domed basilica – with carefully moulded piers articulating
and emphasizing the soaring verticality of the central domed bay. It is
rightly called one of the masterpieces of the `Golden Age’
of Armenian
architecture for these reasons. It also preserves, as I have shown
recently, the most extensive fresco program of seventh-century Armenia, and
the earliest Armenophone biblical inscription (preserving Psalm 92/93:5),
located in the triumphal arch. Scholars have also called attention to the
church as a critical monument of the eastern frontier and the Byzantine
consolidation of this region by the emperor Heraclius (610-641)-he
is named
in a precious inscription on the west façade of the church, and may be
represented in the bas-relief on the north portal lintel, returning the
True Cross to Jerusalem. The west façade portal is also sculpted with
images of Christ, angels, saints, clerics, and princes, making this church
of great value for its architecture, epigraphy, and sculpture.

N.C.: What is currently the condition of Mren?

Christina Maranci: Very bad. The south wall collapsed, as is known, in
the early twentieth century. What was a large hole in the southwest corner
of the church in the 1990s gradually became larger, and now the façade,
along with its corpus of medieval inscriptions, is on the ground. There is
also now a crack running along the northwest corner of the church. The dome
piers have been undermined and damaged, as have the remaining facades, and
so there is little to support the superstructure, and the dome is not
sufficiently or symmetrically supported. The famous lintel showing
Heraclius (most likely) is also not supported on its left side, but simply
hangs in the air.

N.C.: What is the approach of the Turkish authorities to the fate of this
cathedral?

Christina Maranci: For many years, there was no possibility of doing
anything to this site, in part because of the fact that Mren lies in a
military zone. But I have just learned that the Ministry of Culture has
authorized a project there for this year, and that it will involve
Armenians. This is a very exciting and important development, and I am
hopeful that the work can be started before it is too late.

N.C.: Dr. Maranci, thanks to your efforts Mren was included in the World
Monuments Fund Watch List 2014-2017. How can this contribute to the
preservation of the monument?

Christina Maranci: The importance of the Watch List is that it brings
attention to otherwise obscure monuments- the Watch List is a kind
of
official, but non-governmental recognition that a monument is worth
saving-and this, in itself, is a good first step towards establishing the
basis for a project. I hope in the future that other sites in historic
Armenia also achieve this status. It is also important to note that unlike
UNESCO World Heritage Site system, the WMF Watch List is not a permanent
designation; rather, it is intended as a call to action, and that is what
we hope will happen at Mren in the next two years while it is on the list.

N.C.: Is it now possible to access the site or does it still remain
closed for the visitors?

Christina Maranci: Yes and no. I am frankly unsure of the current status
of the region of Mren as part of a restricted military zone. For all I
know, it may still be officially closed, although the area seems less
militarized. But having said that, empirical evidence suggests that Mren is
now accessible to visitors: I know of increasing numbers of people who have
gone to Mren recently, including myself!

N.C.: What other steps have been and should be taken to save Mren?

Christina Maranci: I think that the process of raising awareness of the
church is an important first step towards saving Mren. Now, the next step
will be a good survey of the site and the monument, and then the
stabilization of the weak parts. I think these two things should be done as
soon as possible, hopefully this year.

N.C.: How can one get involved in this campaign?

Christina Maranci: Anyone who is interested should tell friends and
colleagues about Mren and its importance. The more people know about it,
the better. To learn more about the World Monuments Fund, go to their
website:

N.C.: How would you describe the overall state of Armenian monuments and
churches in Western Armenia under Turkish rule? Are most of them endangered
(any other cases to highlight)?

Christina Maranci: It varies, but many of them are in bad shape. And too
many of them are not known very well.

Khtskonk, the monastery buildings of Hoá¹=99omos, Bagnayr, and so many
others
are in perilous condition.

N.C.: What would you say is the general approach of the Turkish
government towards the Armenian monuments there?

Christina Maranci: It is a complicated question to answer. My instinct
would be to say negative, but my own experience has been that there has
also been a lot of indifference… However, I would also like to say that
there are many non-governmental individuals – scholars, philanthropists,
etc.-in Turkey who have been at the forefront of campaigning for the
Armenian monuments. I must be hopeful that the changes, which can be
glacial in politics and diplomacy, will happen soon enough to save these
monuments.

Interview by Nvard Chalikyan

Çanakkale commemoration may discredit Turkey

12:50 * 19.01.15

Turkey’s move to declare April 24 the annivrsary of the Çanakkale and
Dardanelles battles may pose risks to the country’s reputation,
according to a turkologist.

“Turkey has been long preparing for the 100th anniversary of the
Dardanel and Canakkale battles, but the very timing is beyond any
morals. With this step, Turkey’s president is clearly and obviously
trying to concentrate the world’s attention on this event, diverting
it from the 100th anniversary of the [Armenian] Genocide. Turkey is a
big country, and may manage it to an extent, but declaring April 24 a
day of the Dardanelles is cynicism and disrespect, to say the least,”
Andranik Ispiryan told a news conference on Monday.

He reiterated the earlier voiced remarks that the April 24 date has no
bearing this important event which took place months before. “An
important date for Turkey in this battle is March 18,” he said, noting
that the country had previously developed a negative image on the
international arena due to stance on the developments in Egypt, Syria
etc.

Commenting on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation to
the Armenia leader and the response message issued shortly afterwards,
the expert expressed his content with President Serzh Sargsyan’s move.
“It was a well-aimed response and at the same time devoid of emotions;
it was within ethical norms, with every single point being justified.
The very fact that the president said it isn’t a common practice here
to be hosted as a host without an answer [to our invitation] found a
big resonance in the Turkish media, assigning to Turkey the
defeatist’s role,” he added.

Robert Fisk

Monday 19 January 2015
The Gallipoli centenary is a shameful attempt to hide the Armenian Holocaust

As world leaders plan to commemorate the First World War battle for
Gallipoli, another horrific anniversary risks being overlooked
Soldiers standing over skulls of victims from the Armenian village of
Sheyxalan in 1915, believed to be victims of the Armenian Holocaust
AFP

When world leaders, including Prince Charles and the Australian and New
Zealand prime ministers, gather at Gallipoli to commemorate the First World
War battle at the invitation of the Turkish government in April, the ghosts
of one and half million slaughtered Christian Armenians will march with
them.

For in an unprecedented act of diplomatic folly, Turkey is planning to use
the 100th anniversary of the Allied attempt to invade Turkey in 1915 to
smother memory of its own mass killing of the Armenians of the Ottoman
Empire, the 20th century’s first semi-industrial holocaust. The Turks have
already sent invitations to 102 nations to attend the Gallipoli anniversary
on 24th April — on the very day when Armenia always honours its own
genocide victims at the hands of Ottoman Turkey.
READ MORE: A History of WW1: The Turkish holocaust begins

The difference between a Holocaust and a holocaust

The 1915 Armenian genocide: Finding a fit testament to a timeless crime

In an initiative which he must have known would be rejected, Turkish
President Recep Erdogan even invited the Armenian President, Serge
Sarkissian, to attend the Gallipoli anniversary after himself receiving an
earlier request from President Sarkissian to attend ceremonies marking the
Armenian genocide on the same day.

This is not just diplomatic mischief. The Turks are well aware that the
Allied landings at Gallipoli began on 25th April – the day after Armenians
mark the start of their genocide, which was ordered by the Turkish
government of the time – and that Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day
on the 25th. Only two years ago, then-president Abdullah Gul of Turkey
marked the 98th anniversary of the Great War battle on 18th March 2013 —
the day on which the British naval bombardment of the Dardanelles
Peninsular began on the instructions of British First Lord of the Admiralty
Winston Churchill. At the time, no-one in Turkey suggested that Gallipoli –
Canakkale in Turkish — should be remembered on 24th April.

The Turks, of course, are fearful that 1915 should be remembered as the
anniversary of their country’s frightful crimes against humanity committed
during the Armenian extermination, in which tens of thousands of men were
executed with guns and knives, their womenfolk raped and then starved with
their children on death marches into what was then Mesopotamia. The irony
of history has now bequeathed these very same killing fields to the
victorious forces of the ‘genocidal’ Islamist ISIS army, which has even
destroyed the Armenian church commemorating the genocide in the Syrian city
of Deir ez-Zour. Armenians chose 24th April to remember their genocide
victims because this was the day on which Turkish police rounded up the
first Armenian academics, lawyers, doctors, teachers and journalists in
Constantinople.

Like Germany’s right wing and revisionist historians who deny the Jewish
Holocaust, Turkey has always refused to accept the Ottoman Turkish Empire’s
responsibility for the greatest crime against humanity of the 1914-18 war,
a bloodletting which at the time upset even Turkey’s German allies.
Armenia’s own 1915 Holocaust – which lasted into 1917 — has been
acknowledged by hundreds of international scholars, including many Jewish
and Israeli historians, and has since been recognized by many European
states. Only Tony Blair’s government tried to diminish the suffering of the
Armenians when it refused to regard the outrages as an act of genocide and
tried to exclude survivors from commemorating their dead during Holocaust
ceremonies in London. Turkey’s claim – that the Armenians were unfortunate
victims of the social upheavals of the war – has long been discredited.

Several brave Turkish scholars – denounced for their honesty by their
fellow countrymen – have researched Ottoman documents and proved that
instructions were sent out from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to regional
officials to destroy their Armenian communities. Professor Ayhan Aktar of
Istanbul Bilgi University, for example, has written extensively about the
courage of Armenians who themselves fought in uniform for Turkey at
Gallipoli, and has publicised the life of Captain Sarkis Torossian, an
Armenian officer who was decorated by the Ottoman state for his bravery but
whose parents and sister were done to death in the genocide. Professor
Aktar was condemned by Turkish army officers and some academics who claimed
that Armenians did not even fight on the Turkish side. Turkish generals
officially denied – against every proof to the contrary, including
Torossian’s photograph in Ottoman uniform — that the Armenian soldier
existed.

[image: Ottoman soldiers posing in front of Armenians they had hanged in
public in Alep in 1915]
Ottoman soldiers posing in front of Armenians they had hanged in public in
Alep in 1915

But now Turkey has changed its story. Turkish foreign minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu recently acknowledged that other ethnic groups – including many
Arabs as well as Armenians – also fought at Gallipoli. “We [Turks and
Armenians] fought together at Gallipoli,” he said. “That’s why we have
extended the invitation to President Sarkissian as well.” The Armenian
president’s reply to Erdogan’s invitation even mentioned Captain Torossian
– although he sadly claimed that the soldier was also killed in the
genocide when he in fact died in New York in 1954 after writing his memoirs
– and reminded the Turkish president that “peace and friendship must first
be hinged on the courage to confront one’s own past, historical justice and
universal memory… Each of us has a duty to transmit the real story to
future generations and prevent the repetition of crimes… and prepare the
ground for rapprochement and future cooperation between peoples, especially
neighbouring peoples.”

Armenians hold their commemorations on April 24th – when nothing happened
at Gallipoli – because this was the day on which the Armenian intellectuals
were rounded up and jailed in the basement of Constantinople’s police
headquarters prior to their deportation and — in some cases — execution.
These were the first ‘martyrs’ of the Armenian genocide. By another cruel
twist of history, the place of their incarceration is now the Museum of
Islamic Arts – a tourist location to which Prince Charles and other
dignitaries will presumably not be taken on 24th April. These killings
marked the start of the Armenian people’s persecution and exile to the four
corners of the earth.

Professor Aktar’s contribution – along with that of historian Taner Akcam
in the US — to the truth of Turkish-Armenian history is almost unique. They
alone, through their academic research and under enormous political
pressure to remain silent, forced thousands of Turks to debate the terrible
events of 1915. Many Turks have since discovered Armenian grandmothers who
were ‘Islamised’ or seized by Turkish militiamen or soldiers when they were
young women. Aktar also points out that other Armenian soldiers – a First
Lieutenant Surmenian, whose own memoirs were published in Beirut 13 years
after Torossian’s death – fought in the Turkish army.

[image: An image from 1915. Turkey deported two thirds of the Armenian
population; many were either killed or died of starvation during the
journey]

An image from 1915. Turkey deported two thirds of the Armenian population;
many were either killed or died of starvation during the journey

He has little time, however, for either the Turkish government or Armenian
president Sarkissian. “If you want to honour the Armenian officers and
soldiers who… died for the fatherland (Turkey) in 1915, then you should
invite the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul,” Aktar told me. “Why do (they)
invite President Sarkissian? His ancestors were probably fighting in the
Russian Imperial Army in 1915. He is from Karabagh [Armenian-held territory
that is part of Turkish Azerbaijan] as far as I know! This is a show of an
‘indecent proposal’ towards President Sarkissian… it is rather insulting!”

Many Armenians might share the same view. For several months, Sarkissian
was prepared to sign a treaty with Turkey to open the Armenian-Turkish
frontier in return for a mere formal investigation by scholars of the
genocide. Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported him, along
with sundry politicians and some Western journalists based in Turkey. But
the Armenian diaspora responded in fury, asking how Jews would feel if
friendship with Germany was contingent upon an enquiry to discover if the
Jewish Holocaust had ever occurred. In the First World War, American and
European newspapers gave massive publicity to the savagery visited upon the
Armenians, and the British Foreign Office published a ‘black book’ on the
crimes against Armenians of the Turkish army. The very word ‘genocide’ was
coined about the Armenian holocaust by Raphael Lemkin, an American lawyer
of Polish-Jewish descent. Israelis use the word ‘Shoah’ – ‘Holocaust’ —
when they refer to the suffering of the Armenians.

The Turkish hero of Gallipoli, of course, was Lieutenant Colonel Mustapha
Kemal – later Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state – and his own
19th Division at Gallipoli was known as the ‘Aleppo Division’ because of
the number of Arabs serving in it. Ataturk did not participate in the mass
killings of Armenians in 1915, but some of his associates were implicated –
which still casts a shadow over the history of the Turkish state. The
bloody Allied defeat at Gallipoli was to cast a shadow over the rest of
Winston Churchill’s career, a fact well known to the tens of thousands of
Australians and New Zealanders who plan to come to the old battlefield this
April. How much they will know about an even more horrific anniversary on
April 24th is another matter.

‘Boat-Rocking’ Civil Rights Activist Attacked In Armenia

By RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
January 19, 2015

YEREVAN — A prominent Armenian civil rights activist has been
severely beaten in an attack in the capital, Yerevan.

Colleagues said Vilen Gabrielian was attacked by four unknown
assailants at about 10 p.m. on January 18 in downtown Yerevan.

One colleague, Akop Simidian, told RFE/RL that the attackers wore
masks and beat Gabrielian with wooden sticks.

He said Gabrielian’s head was covered with blood, his face swollen and
bruised after the attack.

Simidian said he believes the attack was retribution for his activism.

Gabrielian gained prominence with online campaigns for civil rights in
the South Caucasus nation.

He is known on social networks by a nickname that means “boat-rocker.”

It Ended up in Outrageous Defeat in Gyumri

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Comments – 19 January 2015, 20:35

Following the tragedy in Gyumri the Armenian political parties,
different NGOs, pro-Russian and pro-government press claimed that
there is no need to politicize the incidents, the murderer has no
nationality and other similar stupid things.

Several thousands of young people of Gyumri did not get support for
their standpoint. This traditionally pro-KGB city actually betrayed
them, referring to certain things which was false and mean. Why didn’t
the entire city come together, and why did the representatives of the
local authorities and local rich men call people to stay in a
convenient place, i.e. the building of the Prosecutor General’s
Office? Initiatives were heard from the crowd, such as forming groups
to attack the Russians and people working for them, as well as form
units of combatants.

However, this is the surface because the Armenian press mainly belongs
to the government or those made of money. An important development
took place in Armenia, and the arena was Gyumri, i.e. a stage of
anti-Russian moods, as well as anti-Russian policy has set on.

In addition, the rotten intelligentsia of Yerevan, as well as the
famous Russian agents demonstrated their meanness and did not dare to
express their opinion. The incident was too outrageous, and they
hardly hoped for a Geschäft. They have already received what they were
supposed to, now they have a money shortage, so do the Russians, and
the Armenian blood must be justified free of charge. The next letter
to Putin is somehow being late.

And what should be done with the Armenian military command? Over many
years, including the ongoing stage of national absurdity, the Armenian
military circles have behaved with dignity, trying to save crumbs of
the policy that anyhow linked Armenia to the Western society.
Relations with NATO are maintained though are often inconsistent.

The factor of the Armenian army is an important factor of expectations
and justifications for providing assistance to Armenia in this period
of complete economic bankruptcy. And bankruptcy is determined by the
developments in Russia.

Now a situation has occurred when the tail of big politics has hit
Armenia but the Armenians are not capable of understanding the most
important thing: in which corridors and political organizations the
destiny of Armenia is discussed.

Prior to the developments in Gyumri the military circles of the
Western community were quite attentive to such meaningless steps as
the participants of the Russians in the military parade in Yerevan,
certain statements on the developments in Ukraine, and most
importantly the expansion of the Russian base in Gyumri.

However, there happened something which they will not get away with
and the Armenian military have already realized this because at the
very last moment they received rather titular assessments of their
participation in cooperation with NATO. Although a lot of things could
have been different. What have the Armenian servicemen received from
Russia in return for this?

It was necessary to silence the developments in Gyumri and it would be
advisable not to get into this mess. One can understand that while
aspiring to a political role one must have an opportunity to speak
more freely or not to speak at all. There is no need to doubt that the
developments in Gyumri were closely followed by the embassies of
Western countries in Armenia, and they are sending to their
governments clear dispatches on anti-Russian demonstrations in
Armenia.

Usually, whatever is expected is being considered, and expectations in
the West are obvious – end of Russian influence on Armenia. All the
previous wording is outdated, i.e. meaningless. Armenia or those who
express the interests of Armenia are facing the issue of putting forth
an issue to the West.

In case the Western community wants to end Russian influence on the
South Caucasus, it must give Armenia guarantees of security. And on
the contrary, if the West fails to do this, it is willing to cede to
Russia not only Armenia but also the entire South Caucasus.

The capital cities of Western countries find that Russia puts strong
pressure on Armenia the target of which is the Armenia armed forces.
Russia is interested in thwarting the international recognition of the
genocide, aiming to deprive the Armenian people of hopes for
recognition of their interests. In this respect, Russia has already
selected its allies and interested parties.

Armenia has been taken under custody. It is consistently taken farther
from Russia, and nobody is already asking the opinion of the Armenian
political leadership which has stopped being political and become
administrative-police. This will happen in the future as well. In
addition, the issue of the Russian military base will be very
important because this base is linked to Russia’s claims not only in
the South Caucasus but also the entire Near East.

If new elite is formed in Armenia, it must realize what style it
needs. In the case of Gyumri everything ended up in outrageous defeat.
There was no renewal of the elite though there was a rather successful
precedent.

Armenia must have law condemning Turkey’s seizure of Armenian territory – MP

12:44 * 19.01.15

Zaruhi Postanjyan, an MP of the Heritage party, had a meeting with
reporters on Monday and spoke of the bill condemning Turkey’s seizure
of Armenian territory and dispossession of Armenians.

According to her, the bill envisages recognition of Armenians’ rights.

“This must be one of the components of our foreign and national
security. We must cope with the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.
And the most important thing is the matter of getting our homeland
back,” Mrs Postajyan said.

The territories of interest to Armenia should first of all be specified.

“We have to clearly formulate our demands. Even if the National
Assembly tries to reject the bill, it does not mean the Armenian
nation should not have such a law,” she said.

Gallipoli as a litmus paper

12:53, 19 January, 2015

100 days later, when the Armenian people will commemorate the victims
of the one of the crimes of the century – the Armenian Genocide on
April 24, the country, which carried out that crime, will hold a
celebration. By all means, Turkey never used that symbolic date as an
occasion to understand the pain of the other people, reassess the
history or to repent.

But this time, they will openly hold a celebration on the official
level without additional formalities. If it is not so, then how can
one explain the fact that the commemoration of the anniversary of the
Battle of Gallipoli (Çanakkale), which was usually marked on March 18
for years, has been moved to April 24 in the Turkish calendar? But
this is not the question of questions as well…

It is now a fact that modern Turkey does not merely deny the Armenian
Genocide, but also turns the pain of the Armenians into an occasion of
holding a festival referring to the commemoration of the anniversary
of the Battle of Gallipoli, as a justification. Denialism seems to be
a simple game in comparison with this. It was not surprising for any
individual, who has slightest idea about the Armenian-Turkish
relations, that the political elite of Turkey will take all the
startling steps advancing the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide.
Unfortunately, there are all bases to assume that this is the
beginning of new provocations by Ankara advancing the Armenian
Genocide centennial.

Undoubtedly, Erdogan’s next step was even more cynical – among the
other world leaders, he sent an invitation to the Armenian President
and received a self-restrained and honorable reply from a country that
mourns the massacre of its 1,5 million sons, but moves forward to the
future. Erdogan’s invitation to Gallipoli sent to over 100 leaders of
the world is now a litmus paper and a unique measuring instrument of
value perceptions.

For the Turkish state, this statement is an elimination and end of the
incomplete and fake condolences offered to the Armenian people in
April of the last year; for those taking an observers position, this
is an opportunity to remove the pharisaical mark of equality put
between the Armenians and the Turks; for us, this is a proof of the
truth enclosed in Homer’s lines saying that “wolves and lambs have no
concord.”

The ruins of Troy are not far from the Greek Gallipoli, which was
renamed to Çanakkale. Those walls witnessed the war, which became a
source of inspiration of ancient poetry. The cause of defeat in that
war was the gift, which was taken inside the gates of the impregnable
city to hold a celebration. The wooden horse – the trap of the
Achaeans, with the enemy’s soldiers hidden inside of it, ruined Troy
and as Virgil states it became a warning: “Beware Danae bearing
gifts.”

Now, Erdogan’s invitation is the horse, and the value basis,
encouraging the denial of the crimes against humanity, are the
soldiers, on which the Turkish President constructs his call. About
the soldiers, by the way… Few weeks after overcoming the threat of
losing the Battle of Gallipoli on March 1915, the Ottoman Empire began
realizing the program of total annihilation of the Armenians.

Erdogan declares that Armenians also participated in the Battle of
Gallipoli. This is a popular historical fact, but he has chosen a
wrong target in this case as well, to remember the Armenian soldiers
of the Ottoman army. I’m not certain how many cases one can encounter
in the history of the organized and mass elimination of the servicemen
of its own army solely because of their ethnicity, but the fact that
the Ottoman army became the cemetery of its Armenian servicemen is
certain not for me alone, but for a number of my colleagues studying
the history of the Ottoman army. The Armenians recruited to the
Turkish army in 1914 were disarmed and stage by stage sent to the
working battalions, where they were brutally murdered. Even the
Turkish archives state that only few hundred out of the tens of
thousands Armenian conscripts survived in the end of the WW I.

The elimination of Armenian soldiers was one of the stages of the
Armenian Genocide, though which the Armenians were even deprived of
the opportunity to protect their lives and dignity. The elimination of
the soldiers was followed by the mass massacres of the Armenian
intellectuals on April 24, as well as of unprotected women, children
and the old people. It is this crime that Ankara doesn’t want to
accept, it is this day of mass murder that Turkey wants to celebrate
hiding behind the Battle of Gallipoli, thus passing to the massive
attempt of destroying the memory of the Armenian people.

I don’t know whether the people, who’ll go to Gallipoli (and there can
be such, as this trap was meant to turn the representatives of at
least Britain, Australia, and New Zealand into a part of denialism),
will remember that on that very hours, the neighboring country marks
the remembrance day of the victims of the genocide carried out by the
Turkish empire, but the thousands of people, who’ll be in Yerevan on
that day, will make a realized choice for the sake of future, human
rights, and prevention of new genocides.

On April 24, the Tzitzernakaberd memorial will become the centre of
magnetic attraction of those people. And avoiding from the Gallipoli
trap will become a litmus paper for many, which will show everything
in a simple and unvarnished way.

Aram Ananyan
Director of Armenpress News Agency
Doctor of History

Ralph Yirikian and Director of BirthLink Kathy Mellor visited the
maternity department in the central hospital in Echmiadzin

19-01-2015 17:16:03 | | Science and Technology

Today VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian and Director of
BirthLink Kathy Mellor visited the maternity department in the central
hospital in Echmiadzin. This hospital has received equipment for
immediate reanimation and warming of sick and small babies,
respiratory monitoring, management of jaundice and the provision of
intravenous fluids. The provided equipment will help support sick and
low birth weight babies after delivery, with provision to stabilize
babies before transfer to Yerevan or regional centers. By improving
facilities, transfer of some babies can be avoided.
, commented VivaCell-MTS
General Manager Ralph Yirikian.
The project implemented by VivaCell-MTS concentrates on the first days
of life, to ensure each maternity facility has doctors and nurses with
the right knowledge and equipment to improve survival of the
vulnerable newborn babies. In addition to the equipment being
provided, education, training and support for the medical staff
continues.
This is now the seventh year of co-operation between BirthLink and
VivaCell-MTS, to improve the care of sick and premature babies in
Armenia, and thereby reduce neonatal mortality. The project commenced
in 2008, and till now has supported twelve neonatal departments in
Yerevan and twenty-three departments in seven regions of Armenia with
about AMD 535 million of support from VivaCell-MTS.
The ‘Every Newborn’ action plan, led by WHO and UNICEF, believe that
nearly 3 million babies and women can be saved each year through
investing in quality care around the time of birth and special care
for sick and small newborns.
More than 80% of all newborn deaths result from preventable and
treatable conditions – in particular complications due to prematurity
and infections. Improving quality of care around the time of birth
will save most lives, but needs healthcare professionals with good
knowledge and well equipped facilities to make the difference.
VivaCell-MTS…You are connected!
The event was covered by major TV companies of Armenia. Please see
today’s evening news.

– Science and Technology
News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan
– See more at:

La Croix, France
Mercredi 14 Janvier 2015

Hommage de Fatih Akin aux souffrances des Arméniens

Le cinéaste allemand d’origine turque signe un film peu séduisant sur
le plan formel mais courageux sur le fond, abordant sans tabou la
question du génocide de 1915.

par SCHWARTZ Arnaud

THE CUT, LA BLESSURE * de Fatih Akin Film franco-allemand, 2 h 18.

Il fallait oser ce qu’a entrepris le cinéaste allemand d’origine
turque, Fatih Akin, 41 ans, avec cette longue épopée rendant hommage
au peuple arménien, victime, il y a un siècle, d’un génocide dont la
Turquie d’aujourd’hui ne reconnaît toujours pas la réalité. Auteur
d’une oeuvre remarquée et déjà saluée par les trois grands festivals
que sont Cannes, Berlin et Venise, le cinéaste achève, avec ce film,
une trilogie sur l’amour, la mort et le diable, commencée en 2004 avec
Head-On et poursuivie en 2007 avec De l’autre côté.

Nullement effrayé par « les sujets tabous », Fatih Akin porte la
caméra comme d’autres la plume dans la plaie, tant dans son pays
d’origine que dans son pays de naissance, soulignant, a minima, le «
laisser-faire » dont l’Allemagne fit preuve à l’époque vis-à-vis de
son partenaire ottoman. Pour autant, le cinéaste considère moins avoir
réalisé un film politique « sur » le génocide qu’intégré à son récit «
des événements historiques traumatisants qui attendent encore d’être
reconnus et étudiés ».

De fait, The Cut, la blessure se concentre avant tout sur l’itinéraire
d’un homme, incarné par l’acteur français Tahar Rahim, auquel le
cinéaste a réservé un rôle quasi muet mais omniprésent: celui d’un
jeune artisan, père de famille, baptisé Nazaret et originaire de la
ville turque de Mardin, proche de la frontière syrienne. Séparé de sa
femme et de ses deux filles, soumis à d’interminables marches où
beaucoup périrent, réduit en esclavage, Nazaret échappe de peu aux
massacres des siens, avant d’apprendre que ses deux filles sont encore
vivantes. Le jeune père sans voix à la suite d’une blessure se lance
alors dans une quête de plusieurs années qui le mènera très loin, à
Cuba puis aux États-Unis

Le nouveau long métrage de Fatih Akin, qui commence en 1915, fait
partie de ces films nécessaires, parce qu’attendus par ceux dont les
souffrances furent longtemps et sont encore parfois niées. Animé d’un
esprit épique, il raconte le voyage d’un homme vers le peu d’espoir
qui lui reste, avec son lot de rencontres qui le sauvent et d’autres
qui le condamnent. « Les humains sont capables d’amour, comme on le
voit dans Head-On, souligne-t-il. Dans De l’autre côté, la mort
déclenche une métamorphose. The Cut aborde la peur de faire face à
notre propre histoire. »

Ceux qui connaissent l’oeuvre du cinéaste seront toutefois surpris de
la rupture stylistique de ce film, qui pourra nuire à sa réception en
France. Célébré pour son audace, sa sobriété, sa capacité à instiller
tension et preté dans ses mises en scène, le cinéaste allemand livre
une épopée classique souvent lourde dans son rythme, son émotion
dictée, son interprétation affectée, trop appuyée dans le rendu des
atmosphères, le travail sur les lumières et les décors. Même de belles
idées, comme ce clin d’oeil à Charlie Chaplin par-delà le silence,
tombent à plat. À trop vouloir rendre son propos accessible à tous,
Fatih Akin s’est, cette fois, un peu perdu.

Middle East Online
Jan 19 2015

Thousands call for justice over murder of journalist Hrant Dink

Holding signs in Turkish, Armenian and English reading ‘Justice for
Hrant’, thousands rally around offices of Agos newspaper in Istanbul.
Middle East Online

By Stuart Williams – ISTANBUL

Thousands of people marched through central Istanbul on Monday calling
for justice over the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
who was shot dead in broad daylight eight years ago.

Holding signs in Turkish, Armenian and English reading “Justice for
Hrant”, they rallied around the offices of the Agos newspaper, a
bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly, which he edited.

The memorial rally — an annual event but considerably larger than in
previous years — coincided with the arrest by the Turkish authorities
of a senior police officer accused of failing to prevent the killing.

Dink, 52, was shot dead with two bullets to the head in broad daylight
outside the offices of Agos on January 19, 2007 in Turkey’s most
notorious murder of recent times.

Ogun Samast, then a 17-year-old jobless high-school dropout, confessed
to the murder and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail in 2011.

But the murder grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that the
security forces knew of a plot to kill Dink, but failed to act.

A court on Monday remanded in custody Ercan Demir, who was police
intelligence chief of the Black Sea Trabzon region where the gunman
and his suspected accomplices came from.

He is accused of failing to act on intelligence that could have
prevented the murder.

Demir had been controversially named police chief of the southeastern
Sirnak province but an arrest warrant was issued for him last week and
he turned himself into the police in Ankara.

Turkey had on Tuesday arrested two other lower ranking policeman on
charges of negligence for failing to prevent the murder.

Dink, a major figure in Turkey’s tiny but prominent Armenian
community, has long pushed for a reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians after decades of bitterness.

Armenians accuse Ottoman forces during World War I of carrying out a
genocide against their forebears that left an estimated 1.5 million
people dead. But modern Turkey has always vehemently resisted terming
the mass killings as genocide.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the tragedy and the date
appeared to give the Dink memorial march additional impetus.

Some held banners referring to the events such as “become conscious of
the genocide along with Hrant Dink”. Others held cards reading: “We
are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians.”

Less than 10 percent of Turks believe their government should
recognise the mass killings of Armenians in World War I as genocide,
according to a survey published on Tuesday.

Supporters of Dink’s family have long feared that those behind the
murder were protected by the state and have asked for a deeper
investigation.