Author: Tadevosian Garnik

news.az, Azerbaijan
May 8 2010

West will further tend to open border between Armenia and Turkey
Sat 08 May 2010 | 08:06 GMT Text size:

The West has not managed to open the Armenian-Turkish border, but it
will further do it.

In this issue, the matter is not only the Turkish-Armenian border.

The European Union and the West want to influence the situation
throughout the South Caucasus via Turkey, therefore, it further work
in this directions. And the more they persuade, the more there will be
pressure. Most actors of the world scale are interested in the opening
of borders for the transport corridors to pass via the South Caucasus,
Turkey to Europe. Therefore, the situation will further develop in
this direction and I think this issue will not be removed from the
agenda, European expert on CIS energy issues and countries, Alexander
Rahr, said.

The only country that demands taking this link into account is
Azerbaijan. Other countries want to follow a different way. They want
the opening of border to promote thaw in the region, friendship
between peoples and then there will be possible to settle this
conflict in a less strained atmosphere. But I think in fact the
European Union will further take efforts to persuade Armenia and
Turkey to sit at negotiation table", the expert concluded.

1news.az

Aysor, Armenia
May 8 2010

Shushi is our town, says Vazgen Manoukian

`Liberating Shushi we responded to those, who unleashed war; and all
our victories have begun since the moment, playing an invaluable role
in our nation’s future,’ told Aysor in a telephone conversation ex
premier of Armenia, chairman of the Public Council, Vazgen Manoukian,
who is in Shushi at the moment.

He said that Shushi, liberated 18 years ago, has positive changes.
`This is our town and we ought to save it for ages,’ said Vazgen
Manoukian wishing development, new jobs and growth of population to
Shushi.

On 9 May 1992 Shushi, an Azerbaijan-held strategic town some ten
kilometers south of the Karabakh capital Stepanakert, was liberated
after a planned operation under the auspices of Colonel-General Gurgen
Daribaltayan with guidance from Commandos Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan.

All of the military factors were in favor of the Armed Forces of
Azerbaijan, who had advantage in terms of the quantity and the quality
of military equipment; they had advantage in terms of number of
troops, and, in addition, they held strategically important position
of Shushi: Shushi’s high located position made it possible to bring
down deadly fire at civilians in lower-lying Stepanakert and nearby
villages of Nagorno Karabakh.

However, 3,500 Armenian soldiers started storming Shushi in the early
hours of May 8. A day later after a strong battle against 2,500
Azerbaijani soldiers, Armenian soldiers liberated Shushi. It’s worth
mentioning that war strategists consider it impossible, or, at least,
hardly possible, to storm and win, if own forces were not outnumbered
by three time as much.

The liberation of Shushi changed the curse of the Karabakh war,
opening up opportunities for further Armenian victories.

Liberation of Shushi is One of the Best Moments in Our History: Jirayr Sefilyan

11:50 – 08.05.10

The liberation of Shushi is one of the best moments in our peoples’
history in a sense that rare have been occasions in our history when
all the Armenians have been unified around one objective and idea,
commander of the special battalion of Shushi Jirayr Sefilyan described
the liberation of Shushi while talking to Tert.am.

`I am sure that there would be no single person on Earth who would be
opposed to the liberation of Shushi, and in that sense it was a good
moment,’ said Sefilyan, adding that those who were fighting in the
frontline could feel the people’s moral support then.

At the same time Sefilyan mentioned that the Armenian soul of has lost
some of its good qualities.

`I would say that our soul has declined quite enough mainly because we
were not able to establish a right co-existence, a moral co-existence,
a just co-existence,’ said Sefilyan.

He also said that it is already the third year since they do not have
a proper mood to celebrate the liberation of Shushi simply because
there are problems in the country, because people like Sasun Mikaelyan
are in prison, and the Armenian people is oppressed by the rich.

Tert.am

Festive celebrations on Shushi Liberation Day

11:56 08/05/2010 » Society

The Armenian official delegation headed by Speaker of the National
Assembly of Armenia, Hovik Abrahamyan, will leave for the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on May 8 to participate in the celebrations
dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great
Patriotic War and the Day of liberation of Shushi. The delegation will
participate in a solemn evening dedicated to Victory and Peace Day
Saturday, National Assembly information department reported.

On May 9 members of the delegation will lay wreaths in Stepanakert and
Shushi and will attend holy liturgy at St. Ghazanchetsots Church.
The same day the Armenian delegation will return to Yerevan.

The delegation comprises Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Deputy
Speaker of the National Assembly Samvel Nikoyan, Chairman of the
National Assembly Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs David
Harutyunyan, MPs Karine Achemyan, Rustam Gasparyan, Ashot Tonoyan,
Ruben Gevorgyan, Artyush Shahbazyan, Bagrat Sargsyan, Larisa
Alaverdyan, Armen Martirosyan, Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan,
Minister of Urban Development Vardan Vardanyan, Syunik Marzpet Surik
Khachatryan, other officials.

Source: Panorama.am

UN AMIRAL POUR L’ARMENIE
par Stephane

armenews
vendredi7 mai 2010

REVUE DE PRESSE

En 1915, l’amiral Dartige du Fournet a sauve 4 000 Armeniens du
massacre. Demain, une stèle et un concert vont le rappeler.

Demain, a 18 h 30, une delegation d’Armeniens venus de Cahors, Paris,
Erevan, Beyrouth et des Etats-Unis va, avec le sous-prefet de Sarlat
et les elus de Saint-Chamassy, devoiler une plaque de marbre blanc
du sculpteur libanais Boghos Agassi.

Cela se passera au cimetière où repose Louis Dartige du Fournet (1).

Le soir, l’orchestre armenien d’enfants Naregatsi jouera et chantera
a l’eglise.

Avant d’etre limoge suite a de graves incidents franco-grecs en
1916, cet officier de marine lie a l’annexion du Laos a la fin du
XIXe siècle, avait ete promu en 1915 commandant en chef des forces
alliees en Mediterranee.

Au large de la pointe nord de la baie d’Antioche, il fut confronte
aux massacres de chretiens armeniens perpetres par les Turcs. Dans
cette region du massif montagneux du Djebel Mussa (Mont Moïse),
sur l’ancien royaume de la Petite Armenie, les Ottomans en guerre aux
côtes des Empires centraux, avaient commence a harceler les Armeniens :
corvees, levee de taxes ou requisition de betail.

Refugies sur la montagne L’enlèvement de femmes armeniennes et
l’arrivee de colons turcs mirent alors le feu aux poudres : 700
Armeniens armes de fusils de chasse montèrent sur la montagne avec
familles et troupeaux.

Bachi-bouzouks ottomans et fanatiques pillards commencèrent a
harceler les fuyards. Les Armeniens, malgre un dernier accès a la
mer, se retrouvèrent vite cernes côte terre et manquèrent de vivres
et de munitions.

Le 5 septembre 1915, ils reussirent a attirer l’attention d’un bateau
francais, le croiseur Guichen, voguant sur la côte nord de la Syrie,
avec un drap blanc marque d’une croix rouge (symbole de la plaque
devoilee demain a Saint-Chamassy).

Son commandant prit contact avec le jeune chef armenien Pierre
Dimlakian. Des coups de canon furent echanges avec les Turcs, les
telegraphes crepitèrent et le lendemain, la Jeanne d’Arc et le Desaix,
de la meme 3e escadre, arrivèrent sur zone.

Le vice-amiral Dartige du Fournet sollicita des instructions auprès
de l’etat-major. Sans reponse precise, c’est finalement sous sa
responsabilite que, les 12 et 13 septembre, 4 080 Armeniens furent
embarques sur " la Foudre ", " le D’Estrees ", " le Guichen ",
" l’Amiral Charner " et " le Desaix ".

Bloquant les plages contre les Turcs, luttant contre le mauvais
temps, orchestrant un va-et-vient de radeaux vers les bateaux, les
marins francais donnèrent le meilleur d’eux-memes pour reussir cette
evacuation, direction Port-Saïd, en Egypte.

La, les Armeniens y furent accueillis en refugies avant, pour la
plupart, de se disperser dans leur diaspora, gardant toutefois le nom
de " Mussalertsi " (enfants du Mont Mussa). Leurs 50 000 descendants
sont nombreux aujourd’hui au Liban. Comme dit a Cahors Daniel Arabian,
" sans Dartige, ils n’existeraient pas ".

Bombardements

Comme on le lit aux Archives de la marine sous la plume du
contre-amiral Darrieus, " cette evacuation d’une majorite de femmes,
enfants et vieillards a ete possible grâce aux bombardements du
"Desaix" et du "Guichen", qui ont agi sur le moral des troupes
turques. " La marine britannique elle-meme a contribue au succès avec
son navire " Anne ".

Georges Kevorkian, ingenieur naval francais d’origine armenienne
estime, dans " La Flotte francaise au secours des Armeniens ", ce Mont
Moïse revelateur des contradictions d’alors de la France : protectrice
des chretiens d’Orient, elle ne peut agir qu’au coup par coup…

Armeniens en general et " Mussalertsi " en particulier ont remue ciel
et terre pour retrouver la tombe de Dartige du Fournet que, de leur
côte, les historiens Gilles et Brigitte Delluc ont ressuscite dans
un precieux bulletin de la Societe historique et archeologique du
Perigord (Shap) de 2007. Demain, l’Armenie martyrisee mais toujours
renaissante aura pour capitale d’un jour Saint-Chamassy.

(1) Des parents de sa femme habitent toujours le village. Lui est
decede a Perigueux en 1940.

CYPRUS HAS A LONG AND INGRAINED GREEK HISTORY

Washington Times
May 6 2010

Cyprus gained its independence from the British Empire in 1960, but
even the British Ministry of Defense could not deny that for 3,500
years, Cyprus’ Greek identity of language and culture has been retained
("There are Turkish Cypriots, too," Letters, Monday).

Over the centuries, numerous empires have come and gone, and quite a
few ethnic communities have blossomed in Cyprus: Armenians, Latins
and even Arab Maronites. But it was the yoke of the British Empire
that sought to force the impression of "two peoples" on the island in
order to implement its partition plans. During the 1955-59 struggle to
liberate Cyprus, not a single Turkish Cypriot participated. Instead,
the British, with the aid of Turkey, established the Turkish terrorist
organizations Volgan and TMT to attack Greek Cypriots and other
communities, including even the Turkish Cypriots. It was the British
who recruited the Turkish Cypriots into their police and security
forces to crack down on anti-colonial activism.

The Turkish military invasion did not protect anyone’s interests but
those of the mass murderers and rapists who pillaged the property of
anyone who was not Turkish. Scores of Greek and Armenian monasteries
and churches have been forcibly converted into hotels and casinos, and
the Turkish military recently went so far as to bulldoze a Neolithic
settlement in order to plant Turkish flags. In his letter, Timur Edib,
former president of the Maryland American Turkish Association, talks
of the "balance" the Green Line has lent to Cyprus. Balance? Hardly.

Just ask the multitudes of nationalities that were displaced forcibly
or murdered by the Turkish military on the "Turkish-and-only-Turkish"
side of the Attila Line.

HAY DAT NEEDS CLOSE COOPERATION WITH TURKISH DISSIDENTS

news.am
May 7 2010
Armenia

International recognition of the Armenian Genocide, territorial
reparations, restoration of Armenians’ rights, consolidation of
statehood of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, protection of the Javakhk
Armenians’ interests – these are the issues on the Hay Dat agenda,
Hakob Ter-Khachatryan, an ARF Bureau member, stated at a conference
of Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Committees in Yerevan.

He laid special emphasis on the protection of the Javakhk Armenians’
interests in the context of the Georgian authorities’ "consistent
anti-Armenian policy." As to international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and territorial reparations, Ter-Khachatryan stressed some
of the Armenians’ achievements – over 20 states have recognized the
Armenian Genocide. "But Turkey and Azerbaijan are exerting consistent
efforts to prevent the satisfaction of Hay Dat demands. The process has
been facilitated by the recently launched Armenian-Turkish dialogue,"
he said.

As regards the means of achieving Hay Dat aims, Ter-Khachatryan
stressed that Armenian lobbyists must keep in close touch with Turkish
dissidents, who do not share official Ankara’s position on the Armenian
issue. "It may cause growing dissent in Turkey," he said.

Ter-Khachatryan also underlined the need for Armenian organizations
to intensify their cooperation with the peoples supportive of Hay
Dat and struggling against Turkey. "Of importance is also close
cooperation with world mass media and analytical agencies to bring
the truth about the Armenian Cause to the international community,"
Ter-Khahchatryan said.

FIRST STAGE OF ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS FAILED THROUGH TURKEY’S FAULT

ArmInfo
2010-05-06 14:26:00

ArmInfo. The first stage of the Armenian-Turkish relations
ended in fiasco through Turkey’s fault, Director of the Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan told journalists today.

There are at least two reasons for such a failed policy conducted by
Ankara. First, Turkey could not stand to Azerbaijan’s loss, second,
Turkey counted on achieving from the Protocol process at least
suspension of the process of international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide and advancement in the Karabakh issue. It did not happen,
so Turkey has failed the process", he said and added that in case
if the second stage of the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement starts,
that may quite happen under the influence of the third parties, the
Protocols cannot be a basis for that any more, since they are fully
devaluated by Ankara’s non-constructive actions.

On April 22, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on
suspension of the process of ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols. However, Armenia retains its signature under the
Protocols trying to preserve an opportunity of rapprochement with
Turkey. On January 12, Constitutional Court of Armenia recognized
the commitments, fixed in the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, meeting
Armenia’s Constitution. According to CC decision, the commitments,
established by the Protocols, are of mutual interstate nature and
cannot cover the third countries. CC also noted that opening of the
Armenian-Turkish border is a priority provision of the Protocols,
and all the other commitments acquire legal force only in case of
the borders opened. After that, Turkish FM said in its statement that
the decision of Armenia’s CC on recognition of the Armenian-Turkish
Protocols complying with the Constitution contains preconditions and
restriction provisions, which do not meet the Protocols signed in
Zurich on October 10, 2009. The both documents must be approved by
the two countries’ parliaments to take effect.

ARMENIAN-TURKISH PROTOCOLS NOT TO BE RATIFIED SOON, ICG REP STATES

news.am
May 6 2010
Armenia

The Armenian-Turkish protocols cannot be ratified in the near future,
Sabine Freizer, Europe Program Director, International Crisis Group,
stated in her interview with Voice of America.

She also pointed out Azerbaijan’s hard line and Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Erdogan’s statement that the protocols will not be ratified
until the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process has registered progress.

Ms. Freizer holds the opinion that, with the protocols put aside,
other problems have to be dealt with now, for instance, establishing
diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. The two nations’
leaders have held several meetings recently, which may develop into
diplomatic relations. The recognition of the modern-day border may
facilitate the process, Freizer said.

ERDOGAN PLANS VISIT TO BAKU SOON FOR TALKS ON ARMENIA

Today’s Zaman
May 6 2010
Turkey

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan disclosed his plans for visiting
Baku after concluding debates on a constitutional reform package
during an informal question-and-answer session with reporters on
Tuesday night outside Parliament’s General Assembly Hall.

At a time when the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey
have come to a standstill, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been
planning to pay a visit to the two countries’ neighbor, Azerbaijan.

Erdogan disclosed his plans for visiting Baku during an informal
question-and-answer session with reporters on Tuesday night outside
Parliament’s General Assembly Hall during ongoing intense debates on
a constitutional reform package. The prime minister didn’t elaborate
on a date for his visit, yet it is expected to be after debates and
voting over the reform package are finalized, which means within days.

Erdogan is already scheduled to pay an official visit to Athens on
May 14-15, and sources said a Baku visit is likely to take place just
after the Greece visit, probably on May 17. However, the same sources
highlighted that no exact date has been set.

Most recently, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu voiced Turkey’s
insistence on parallel progress on the normalization process with
Armenia and on the Nagorno-Karabakh territorial dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Delivering a keynote lecture on Saturday at the University of Oxford’s
St. Antony’s College, Davutoglu touched upon the recent course of
affairs regarding the stalled normalization process between Armenia
and Turkey.

"For sure, we want to open our border because we want full integration
with our neighbors. However, opening the Turkey-Armenia border will
not be sufficient; we want to open the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as
well so that regional stability can be maintained," Davutoglu said.

Last October, Davutoglu and his Armenian counterpart, Edward
Nalbandian, signed two protocols for restoring diplomatic ties
between their countries and re-opening the two countries’ joint
border, but they have yet to be ratified in the national parliaments
— a necessary condition for their implementation — amid mutual
accusations of belatedly added preconditions. Turkey says a decision
by the Constitutional Court of Armenia on the protocols interprets
them in a way that misrepresents their objectives. Armenia, on the
other hand, says Turkey has linked the process to the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan although this goes against
the text of the protocols.

"The Turkish-Armenian borders could be opened in the first stage
only under the conditions of withdrawal of Armenian troops from five
occupied regions of Azerbaijan and the Lachin corridor. It will create
conditions for Turkish-Armenian cooperation as well as trilateral
trade relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Rejecting
all these conditions, Armenia lost everything. Armenia can lose good
prospects because of the political views of President [Serzh] Sarksyan
or anyone else," Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov,
who is also a special representative of Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev for the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh, said earlier this week.

While speaking about a bilateral meeting with Sarksyan, which was
held in Washington in early April, Erdogan later that month said:
"We underlined the fact that relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
and reaching a resolution over rayons [administrative units greater
than a district but smaller than a province which surround the
Nagorno-Karabakh region] will be determining factors in implementing
the protocols."