Author: Takmazian

OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE TALKS WITH AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN FMS OVER PHONE

ArmInfo
2010-04-27 20:13:00

ArmInfo. OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakhstan Secretary of
State-Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev has talked over
phone with ministers of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan and Armenia
Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian today; the Kazakh MFA’s press
service told Kazinform.

The sides discussed the status and prospects of the process
of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Saudabayev expressed
interest in strengthening efforts on searching for ways of settling
the situation and opportunity of personal participation of Kazakh
President Nursultan Nazarbayev in it.

Besides, they exchanged opinions on preparation for the informal summit
of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Almaty on July 16-17 and agenda of the
OSCE Summit planned for 2010 at the initiative of President Nazarbayev.

ATTENTION TO GENOCIDE HAS DOUBLED IN THE WORLD: EDWARD NALBANDYAN

Tert.am
12:44 27.04.10

"The ice has been broken in Turkey," Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan said during Real Politics – a newly-launched TV
program broadcast by the Public TV Channel – while commenting on a
widely-circulated viewpoint that the existence of the Armenia-Turkey
Protocols will hinder the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.

"First of all, they cannot be an obstacle, and if we look at the
recent two years, [we will see] that the publications, comments,
discussions, attention [to the Genocide] have been multiplied for
several times in the world," said Nalbandyan.

According to him the most important changes are those that have
recently occurred in Turkey.

"Did you know that in December, 2008, some Turkish intellectuals
launched a movement by apologizing to the Armenian nation? About 35,000
Turks joined in that call. Two days ago on the occasion of April 24,
for the first time a commemoration was held on the central square
of Istanbul dedicated to April 24. The visits the Turks have been
paying during the recent two years to the Genocide museum-institute
[in Yerevan] have been multiplied compared with previous years,"
said Nalbandyan.

AZERBAIJAN’S SPIRITUAL LEADER WANTS MORE CONTACT WITH ARMENIA

news.az
April 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Allahshukur Pashazade The head of the Caucasus Muslims Department has
called on religious leaders to unite against terrorism and separatism.

‘Religious leaders must always take a united stance against extremist,
radical and separatist forces that oppose the territorial integrity
and security of states,’ Sheikh-ul-Islam Haji Allahshukur Pashazade
told a Baku summit on inter-religious dialogue on Monday.

‘The violation of human rights, spread of drugs and other psychotropic
substances, control over space, nuclear terrorism, the use of weapons
of mass destruction cause us serious concern. We religious leaders
approve the superpowers’ action towards nuclear disarmament and we
think that if today religious leaders do not use their influence,
scientists their practical knowledge and the heads of state progressive
cooperation in fighting these disasters, tomorrow they will have to
bear responsibility before history and humanity,’ Pashazade said.

According to the sheikh, no religion justifies terrorism, violence
and aggression. ‘Acts of terror in different corners of our planet
in Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and our Caucasus region, and their
transformation into a global phenomenon also causes concern,’
Pashazade said.

‘Those who use religious slogans for the death of civilians, terrorism
and vandalism, commit the biggest sin before our God. They should
not forget that world religions view an attempt on human life as an
attempt against the whole of humanity,’ he said.

Speaking of regional matters, Pashazade said that Azerbaijan spared no
effort for the peaceful resolution of the conflict with Armenia. At the
same time, he recalled the mediation of the Russian Orthodox Church,
Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate and the World Council of Churches
in organizing dialogue between the religious leaders of Azerbaijan
and Armenia.

‘Though our meetings had definite constructive results, there is
already a need for new action and new negotiations in this direction.

On the other hand, we are ready for this, because the world is a
gift of God and every step made for its sake is positive. I view the
participation of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch, all-Armenian
Catholicos Garegin ll, in our summit, who accepted our invitation
despite the difficulties, as a significant step on the path to peace
and I invite him to more active relations in this direction, to the
restoration of both direct and indirect contacts. I think the current
problems of both Karabakh and all conflict regions in the Caucasus can
be settled through a just peace within the framework of territorial
integrity and mutual understanding in line with the principles of
international law,’ Pashazade said.

QUIET COMMEMORATION 95 YEARS AFTER ARMENIAN DEPORTATION

BIAnet.org
April 26 2010

"This pain is our pain, his mourning is the mourning of all of us"
was written on the banner on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of
the deportation of Armenians. More than 500 people gathered around
the banner in Taksim/Istanbul for a silent commemoration.

Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Istanbul – BÄ°A News Center26 April
2010, Monday More than 500 people, among them Turkish intellectuals
and human rights defenders, sat down quietly on Istanbul’s centrally
located Taksim Square around a banner saying "This pain is our pain,
his mourning is the mourning of all of us". They commemorated
in silence the 95th anniversary of the deportation of Armenian
intellectuals. Candles had been lit around the banner.

During a few days around 24 April 1915, 220 Armenians were exiled from
the Ottoman Empire by force and then killed. Among them were artists,
authors and other representatives from the intellectual and cultural
world. They were taken to AyaÅ~_ and Cankırı in northern Anatolia
where they were killed.

Commemoration events were furthermore held at the HaydarpaÅ~_a Train
Station on the Anatolian side of Istanbul and at the Galatasary Square
on Istanbul’s lively district of Beyoglu. Intense security measures
accompanied the events.

Provocations were greeted with applause 67 intellectuals had initiated
the commemoration on Taksim Square.

Small groups of people calling themselves idealistic provoked the
silent group by gatherings in front of the nearby French Consulate
and a hotel opposite Taksim Square.

The groups shouted "Go to Erivan, traitors" at the participants of
the silent commemoration, who responded with applause. The groups
furthermore shouted slogans such as "This is Turkey, love it or leave
it" and "A Turk has no other friend than a Turk", while the police
let them draw closer to the quiet group.

Aktar: One more part of the taboo got broken Publisher Omer Laciner
told bianet, "This was a good start. We want this to become
a tradition". Journalist Cengiz Aktar emphasized the historic
significance of the commemoration, "One more part of the taboo in
Turkey has been broken" he said.

Dancer Zeynep Tanbay addressed the crowd and the journalists with
reading the call for the event once more: "We had a population of
13 million people in 1915, 1.5 to 2 million Armenians were living
in this country. In Thrace, at the Aegean, in Adana, Malatya, Van,
Kars… In Samatya, Å~^iÅ~_li, on the Princess Islands, in Galata… On
24 April 1915 they started to ‘send them away’. We lost them. They do
not exist anymore. They do not even have graves. The weight of the
"Great Pain" has ever been growing in our conscience of the "Great
Disaster" throughout the last 95 years".

The silent event was also attended by Galatasaray University lecturer
Prof. Dr Ahmet İnsel, journalist Perihan Magden, writer Yalcıın
Ergundogan and lawyer Eren Keskin amongst others. (EO/VK)

TOWARDS THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT VICTORY

p;p=0&id=1310&y=2010&m=04&d=26
23. 04.10

In the military ceremony devoted to the 65th anniversary of the victory
in the Great Patriotic War, which will take place on the 9th of May
in Moscow – the capital of RF, Armenia will participate with a review
group. The RA AF soldiers will march through the Red Square. In order
to show up in the parade as is proper, already two weeks before the
company staff began and is continuing its daily tough trainings.

Due to the consistent and strict attention of person in charge,
commander of the Armenian-Russian joint unit, Lieutenant-General
Mikael Grigoryan and the officers day by day the parade drill and
parade manners of the soldiers are improved.

In order to watch the trainings of the company in spot, on 23 April
the RA Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan, accompanied by the Chief of
the RA AF GS Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, visited the detachment.

Expressing his satisfaction by the trainings the Minister of Defence
wished the company members success.

VIVACELL-MTS SIGN UNDERSTANDING MEMORANDUM WITH SEVEN ARMENIAN UNIVERSITIES

ArmInfo
2010-04-26 19:19:00

ArmInfo. Today at VivaCell-MTS Headquarters a Memorandum of
Understanding was signed between the Company, represented by its
General Manager Ralph Yirikian and seven more universities of Armenia,
represented by their respective Presidents such as: Yerevan branch of
the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics,
Eurasia International University, Yerevan Gladzor University,
Vanadzor State Pedagogical University, Anania Shirakatsi University,
Institute of Economics and Management and Vardenis University after
Victor Hambardzumyan.

The press service of VivaCell-MTS reports that for over three
years, the VivaCell-MTS General Manager has been a guest lecturer
in universities in Armenia. Ralph Yirikian has extended his visits
to meet with students, graduates and faculty members in the regions
of Armenia and Yerevan, with the purpose to share the Company’s
success as a leader in Corporate Responsibility, organizational
culture, successful strategy of business development, technical
development of network, marketing strategy, etc. However, the support
of VivaCell-MTS to higher educational institutions in Armenia is not
limited to one-time lectures. In order to create continuous connection
between business and higher education, VivaCell-MTS developed the
Career Development Program initiative. This program’s objective is to
enrich experiences for the students to help them become competitive
and ready for tomorrow’s labor market.

The major directions of mutual cooperation outlined in the Memorandum,
are the following: organization of master’s thesis internship
for graduate students in VivaCell-MTS, organization of practical
lectures for students delivered by the respective specialists of
the Company, implementation of joint scientific research, master’s
thesis research and curriculum development projects jointly with
the faculty, involvement of the Company’s specialists as Master’s
thesis supervisors, etc. In addition, according to the Memorandum,
the universities’ high-performing students will be given an opportunity
to get specialty internship in specific areas such as commercial law,
finance and accounting, marketing and sales, information technologies,
customer service, etc. In addition, students from regions will receive
a salary to help them cover living expenses in Yerevan.

"As Armenia’s leading mobile operator and socially-responsible
organization, VivaCell-MTS is ready to provide its support with
upgrading the capacity of students in the respective spheres based
on the demands of the job market", noted VivaCell-MTS General
Manager in this regard. "We have already started hosting interns at
different departments of our Company and our staff is lecturing at the
universities. The Memorandum of Understanding that we are signing today
with another 7 universities will expand the geography of the Career
Development Program. It’s in our best interest to extend our support
not only to Yerevan-based universities but to the regional ones as
well", mentioned Ralph Yirikian. "VivaCell-MTS keeps on investing in
the younger generation of Armenians to assist them to achieve their
professional goals, to develop and to find their destination in life
for the sake of a better future of our motherland."

Xinhua General News Service, China
April 22, 2010 Thursday 1:16 AM EST

Turkey says committed to normalization despite Armenia setback

ANKARA April 22

Turkey on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to efforts to reconcile
with its neighbor Armenia despite a decision by Armenia to suspend the
ratification of normalization protocols with Turkey.

"As we’ve stated many times before, we are committed to the protocols,
to the word and spirit of the protocols and to their implementation,"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint press
conference here with his New Zealand counterpart John Key, who is on a
visit to the Turkish capital Ankara.

His comments came in response to a decision earlier Thursday by the
Armenian ruling coalition of three parties in the parliament to freeze
the ratification of protocols signed by the two countries last October
to normalize relations and open long-sealed borders.

"It is up to them how they would handle the ratification process. I am
not in the position to tell them what to say," Erdogan told reporters.

In Thursday’s statement, the Armenian ruling coalition said the
Turkish stance of linking the normalization process with the solution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was "unacceptable."

The ratification of the protocols would be removed from the agenda of
the parliament until the Turkish side displays the readiness to
continue the normalization process without preconditions, said the
statement.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or economic ties since
Armenia declared independence in 1991. Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan, which had a territorial
conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Ankara said the border could be opened only after the withdrawal of
Armenian troops from the disputed land.

The protocols Turkey and Armenia signed to normalize relations need to
be approved by both countries’ parliaments before taking effect, but
progress on the ratification has been slow.

Apart from the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Turkey and Armenia have also
been bogged down in a row over the World War I-era killings of
Armenians under Ottoman rule, which Armenia says was a genocide while
Turkey denies that charge and insists the Armenians were victims of
widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600- year-old
Ottoman Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

Trend, Azerbaijan
April 23 2010

Political scientist: Freezing Zurich protocols testifies it is
impossible to exert any pressure on Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 23 /Trend, M.Aliyev/

Freezing the Zurich protocols on the opening of the Turkish-Armenian
borders once again testified that it is impossible to exert any
pressure on Azerbaijan, head of the political innovations and
technologies center, political scientist Mubariz Ahmadoglu told Trend
on April 23.

"Some pro-Armenian countries thought that it was possible to exert
pressure on Azerbaijan and its president. However, the events showed
that if there are national interests, it is impossible to exert any
pressure on Azerbaijan president," Ahmadoglu said.

On April 22, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree on
suspension of the Armenia-Turkey Protocols’ ratification at the
Parliament.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward
Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey were broken due to
Armenian claims of an alleged genocide and its occupation of
Azerbaijani lands. Their border closed in 1993.

Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan’s message to nation says that
Armenia has decided not to exit the process of normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations, but rather, to suspend the procedure of
ratifying the Protocols. The president believes this to be in the best
interests of nation.

According to Ahmadoglu, the only goal of Armenia in raising the
question of normalizing relations with Turkey was to delay the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue and harm the relations between Turkey and
Azerbaijan, but it failed to do it.

"There were certain forces inside Turkey that tried to harm the
relations between the two countries, but they failed. The last meeting
in Washington showed that Turkey protects Azerbaijan’s interests not
only in Azerbaijan, but also outside the country," Ahmadoglu added.

Art Threat Magazine
April 25 2010

Armenian Genocide commemorated with art

by Rob Maguire on April 24, 2010 · 41400

The horrors of the Armenian Genocide are commemorated each year on
April 24, the date in 1915 that marked the first of countless
massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire that killed an estimated
1.5 million Armenians.

This year, the University of Rhode Island is observing the anniversary
of the tragedy with an art show entitled The Armenian Genocide ‘ 95
Years Later, In Remembrance.

Curated by Gallery Z founder and curator Bérge Ara Zobian, the exhibit
features work by over 40 artists, including artwork in a variety of
mediums, as well as film, museum artifacts, and an educational display
on the genocide.

In her curatorial statement, Zobian explains the importance of such an
exhibit. `Following the numerous other genocides of the 20th century,
acknowledging and examining past episodes of violence becomes all the
more crucial. As the first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian
Genocide is a critical event to affirm, and the surviving culture is
essential to celebrate and spread with as large an audience as
possible. This show promises to accomplish both of these tasks with
your submissions and support.’

The collection will be displayed at the University of Rhode Island
Feinstein Providence Campus gallery from April 1`30, 2010. For more
information, visit armeniangenocide95years.com.

/2010/04/armenian-genocide/

HULIQ.com, SC
April 24 2010

Remembering genocide, forgetting to stop it

As people around the world mark the 95th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide, world leaders repeat the admonition that we must remember
such atrocities in order to avoid repeating them. Yet the track record
of humanity since then suggests that remembering isn’t much better
than forgetting at stopping genocide.

It was not until 1944, as the world was becoming aware of the nature
and extent of Hitler’s "final solution" to the "Jewish problem", that
the term "genocide" was coined to refer to the deliberate elimination,
in whole or in part, of a group of people. But efforts to prevent the
act date back at least to the 1930s, when Raphael Lemkin, the man who
coined the term, first proposed an international tribunal for what he
called "the crime of barbarity." Lemkin’s move was prompted by what he
had learned about the Ottoman Empire’s systematic eradication of its
Christian population, including the Armenians, during the First World
War.

Nothing would come of the idea of punishing genocide until after the
end of the Second World War, when the Nuremberg trials of Nazi German
leaders revealed the full scope of the genocide that has since come to
be known as the Holocaust. Jewish leaders especially, but not
exclusively, began to use the phrase "Never again!" to argue that
humanity should remember the German atrocities as a spur to action to
prevent such horrors in the future.

Events since then suggest that humanity does a better job of punishing
the perpetrators of genocide after it happens than stopping them from
committing it in the first place. Consider the record of the past
several decades: the massacre of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda, the
Cambodian "killing fields," the ongoing persecution of African
Christians in the Darfur region of the Sudan, the Srebrenica massacre
and "ethnic cleansing" in Bosnia, the "stolen generation" of
Aborigines in Australia, French actions against Berbers in Algeria.
While not all agree that all of these constitute genocide, one common
thread runs through them all: Concerned citizens of the world sounded
the alarm as the threats emerged, but the world looked the other way
while the killings proceeded unimpeded.

None of this should suggest that the world cease to observe
anniversaries of genocides, nor that leaders should speak out against
the practice. But it does raise the sad prospect that instead of
ensuring that genocide will never happen again, those of us who
remember it will instead be crying out "Never again!" again and again
and again.

Written by Sandy Smith
For HULIQ.com
ing-genocide-forgetting-stop-it