Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
 
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2005
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]

ARMENIAN CAUCUS MEMBER REP. FOLEY URGES TURKEY TO FACE ITS OTTOMAN PAST
Calls Armenian Genocide Study An “Important Opportunity” for Turkey

Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly commended Congressional Caucus
on Armenian Issues Member Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) today for urging
Turkish officials who are calling for an investigation into the
Armenian Genocide to instead use the opportunity to come to terms
with their Ottoman legacy.

Foley, in a statement issued before Congress, said Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for a “political settling of
accounts with history” appeared to be a delaying tactic meant to
escape the judgment of history.

“That accounting has already been done,” Foley said. He added that
experts in Holocaust and Genocide studies, as well as foremost
authorities on WWI, have attested that the crime of genocide was
committed by Ottoman Turkey.

Foley also added that if Turkey is prepared to acknowledge the truth,
its leaders should immediately engage in direct dialogue with their
Armenian counterparts. If Turkey is still unwilling to take this
essential step with Armenia, it could take a number of intermediate
actions to demonstrate its shared values with countries of the
European Union. The EU agreed last December to open membership talks
with Turkey.

Foley called upon the government of Turkey to consider the following
preparatory steps:

* Decriminalize speech on this subject within Turkey.
* Destroy all monuments, museums and public references to the specious
notion that the Armenian minority committed genocide against the
majority Turks.
* End denial within Turkey, specifically within textbooks & reference
books.
* Officially condemn attacks against any Turk that acknowledges the
facts of history.
* End the global campaign of threats against any nation that is in
the process of affirming the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.

### NR#2005-027

A photograph of Congressman Foley is available on the Assembly Web
site at the following link:

Caption: Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL)

Editor’s Note: Attached is the full text of Congressman Foley’s
comments as delivered on the floor of the House of Representatives.

TURKEY AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE –
(Extensions of Remarks – April 07, 2005)

SPEECH OF HON. MARK FOLEY
OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2005

Mr. FOLEY: Mr. Speaker, as reported by Reuters recently, Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ready for a “political settling
of accounts with history” provided that historians would prepare an
unbiased study of claims that millions of Armenians were the victims
of genocide under Ottoman rule during the First World War.

That accounting has already been done. A March 7, 2000 public
declaration by 126 Holocaust Scholars affirmed the incontestable fact
of the Armenian Genocide and urged Western democracies to officially
recognize it.

This declaration by foremost scholars from around the world was
adopted at the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Scholar’s Conference
on the Holocaust convening at St. Joseph University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, March 3-7, 2000. The petitioners, among whom is Nobel
Laureate for Peace Elie Wiesel, also called upon Western democracies to
urge the government and parliament of Turkey to finally come to terms
with this dark chapter of Ottoman-Turkish history and to recognize
the Armenian Genocide. According to this renowned gathering, Turkish
acknowledgment would provide an invaluable impetus to that nation’s
democratization.

As part of the groundbreaking conference held in September 2000 by the
Library of Congress and the Armenian National Institute in cooperation
with the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the prestigious Cambridge University
Press, early in 2004, released a vital new publication–“America and
the Armenian Genocide of 1915.” This edition covers all facets of the
leading U.S. response to the Armenian Genocide, which encompassed the
first international human rights movement in American history. Oxford
University’s Sir Martin Gilbert, Cambridge University’s Jay Winter and
more than a dozen American academics were among the participants in
that landmark conference. In a keynote address, Sir Martin recalled
that Rafael Lemkin, who developed the concept of genocide, derived
the word itself from the atrocities inflicted on the Armenians.

Prime Minister Erdogan’s apparent willingness for a political settling
of accounts with history should be treated as an important opportunity
for those who have been urging Turkey to come to terms with its Ottoman
past. If Turkey is prepared to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide,
then its leaders can proceed immediately to direct dialogue with its
counterparts in Armenia to define a common vision for the future.

I also urge the government of Turkey to: decriminalize speech within
Turkey, destroy all monuments, museums and public references to
the specious notion that the Armenian minority committed genocide
against the majority Turks, end denial within Turkey, specifically
within textbooks and reference books, officially condemn any attacks
against all Turks that acknowledge the facts of history, and end the
global campaign of threats against any nation that is in the process
of affirming the Armenian Genocide.

By so doing, Turkey will begin the vital process of preparing its
citizens for a more complete and honest assessment of the final acts
of the Ottoman Turkish state. Facing history squarely will liberate
Turkey.

-30-

–Boundary_(ID_eCONyUGZPEsBWpXgu7FWTQ)–

AZG Armenian Daily #062, 08/04/2005

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EXCAVATION OF BYUZAND STR TO UNEARTH A CELLAR OF 19TH CENTURY

Landlord of apartment blocks on 19 and 21 Byuzand Str. could hardly
imagine that the basements — precisely cellars — of the blocks
date back to 18-19 centuries. As reconstruction works carry on, the
openings on the street reveal red-black arched wall of tuff. Frina
Babayan, senior scientist at the Academy of Sciences, who excavated
cellars at the Republican Square 2 years ago, immediately responded
to my call and wanted to see the cellars on Byuzand Str. Expert’s eye
soon noticed that the cellars was repaired at one point. Armenians
used to built solid cellars as they kept food and wine there all
year long. The walls of the cellar are so firm that may well be a
fundament of any construction.

“18-19 centuries are one period in the Armenian art of
construction. And I don’t know why we want to wipe out this period
for building the Yerevan of 21st century. When we unearthed the
wonderful cellars on the Republic Square 2 years ago, we suggested
preserving those red-black structures in some places as they would
pull in tourists. But the authorities decided to bury them”, Frina
Babayan said.

Items of 13-15 centuries were found during the Square
excavations. Babayan is almost sure that the cellar on Byuzand Str. is
the continuation of the ones on the Republic Square. “Those cellars
should not be razed but instead we should build them up. If moved,
they will lose their biography and will not be of interest any more”,
she added.

The cellars of Byuzand Str. and the Republic Square differ only
stylistically, and archeologists need to excavate the finding for exact
definition. Walls of the cellars are also laid in brickwork as this
method was rather respectable and was highly valued in 18-19 centuries.

By Ruzan Poghosian

ALEXANDER MANASIAN: “LEGAL FACTS BENEFICIAL FOR US FORCED OUT OF POLITICAL PROCESS IN KARABAKH ISSUE”

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The Republic of Nagorno Karabakh was
created in a territory that hadn’t belonged to Azerbaijan. Doctor,
Professor Alexander Manasian, the Chief of the YSU Theoretical
Philosophy Department stated about it at the April 5 meeting with
journalists, emphasizing that this fact, complete from the legal
side, must be observed as the basic one, making the international
norm of nations’ self-determination insignificant. “There is no
doubt that the Karabakh issue is internationally made political:
the problem is that our statesmen have thought since the 90ths that
using political tools means refusal of the legal facts. That’s why
all legal facts beneficial for the Armenian part were forced out of
the political process,” Professor Manasian mentioned. According to
him, both for political reasons and due the strength of the legal
factors, the argument of self-determination must be given less
importance than now. Besides, usage of the principle of nations’
self-determination is fraught with the danger that numerous countries
cannot definitely defend the position of the Armenian party, as they
have similar problems. Alexander Manasian invited one’s attention also
to the circumstance that Azerbaijan has lost moral right to pretend
on Karabakh. According to him, authorities of Baku have conducted
policy of genocide against Armenians of Azerbaijan, among them of
Artsakh during the Soviet years. This policy, obviously or disguised,
has been conducted in the way of economic and political persecutions,
finally being turned into blood-shed conducted in Sumgait. According
to the speaker, Azerbaijan continues the policy of Turkey in the issue
of Genocide: “We ourselves separated it into two issues, separating
the Armenians’ Genocide taken place in the Ottaman Empire from the one
taken place in Azerbaijan, whereas these are two stages of one and the
same Genocide, conducted by two Turkish states on the basis of the same
PanTurkish policy,” Manasian emphasized. According to him, even today,
when Armenians ar e going to mark the 90th anniversary of the Great
Genocide, this question is not raised and the Diaspora implements
lobbing only in the issue of recognition of the 1915 Genocide.

No Compromise in Karabakh
By Adil Baguirov

The Moscow Times
Tuesday, April 5, 2005. Issue 3139. Page 10.

While many nations in the south of the former Soviet Union were
celebrating Novruz, the Zoroastrian New Year on March 21 symbolizing
the beginning of spring and thus everything new, the perennial Nagorny
Karabakh conflict attracted renewed attention due to rising tensions
and martial moods. As the oldest “frozen conflict” in the former Soviet
Union, which many rightly believe contributed significantly to the
super power’s demise and made the Caucasus a hotbed of instability,
the Armenian-Azerbaijan standoff is still as far from a permanent
peace deal as it was at the time of the Russia-brokered 1994 cease-fire
agreement.

The long list of reasons for this includes a lack of trust on all
sides, competition among various world powers, the region’s complex
geography, economic decline and crisis, and, finally, refugees and
internally displaced people However, the main reason the conflict
still smolders is that neither the conflicting parties, nor the
international community, including the members of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group tasked in 1992
with resolving the conflict, fully understand the importance of a
permanent peace based on the same rules and international laws that
led to the creation of the United Nations. In other words, the raison
d’etre of international law is being undermined by peace negotiations
that lead to proposals that suit no one. The legal aspects, the plight
of some 800,000 Azeri refugees and displaced persons, and history are
being ignored. Instead, unworkable compromises are being suggested and
applied. This approach damages the credibility of the international
community and could complicate other conflicts around the world by
setting a detrimental precedent.

It would be impossible to go over all the facts related to the Nagorny
Karabakh conflict in a brief comment, but everyone in Azerbaijan knows
them by heart. All of the currently Armenian-occupied territories were
recognized as part of Azerbaijan by the UN in four Security Council
and several General Assembly resolutions. Recognition came most
recently from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
or PACE. The refugees and displaced persons comprising 10 percent
of the total population of Azerbaijan were chased from their homes
after a string of notorious massacres such as the one at Khojali,
when over 700 Azeri civilians were killed on a single cold February
night in 1992. By far the bloodiest atrocity of the war, the event
shocked observers from Human Rights Watch and the Russian human rights
group Memorial used to seeing man’s inhumanity toward man.

Beginning in the early 19th century, when the independent khanates
of the region signed treaties with the Russian tsar, the native
Azeri population in Nagorny Karabakh has declined, as incoming
Armenians resettled from the Ottoman and Iranian empires. By the
1980s, Armenians made up over three fourths of the population in the
region. Yet even such majority population does not give an area the
right to “self-determination.” Not only has this concept been abused
by Armenian ideologues, but it is also secondary to the territorial
integrity of a responsible member of the international community,
Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, for years negotiators hinted that Azerbaijan should
give up a large portion of the currently occupied lands to Armenia,
which in turn would release the areas around Nagorny Karabakh it calls
“buffer zones.” This term makes no military sense if one looks at a
map, since much of Karabakh proper is directly on the Line of Contact,
where daily crossfire takes place, and all of Karabakh is within
the reach of long-range artillery and missiles. After this exchange,
advocates of this approach argue, most refugees and displaced persons
would return, trade would restart, and Azerbaijan would live happily
ever after, albeit without its heart as Karabakh is described by many
Azeris. Moreover, it would be flanked by two Armenian states.

Yet Azeris have as much trust and confidence in Armenians and their
intentions as Armenians do in Azeris — that is to say almost none.
Moreover, some pundits still view the situation as a zero-sum
competition between great powers such as Russia and the United States,
not to mention other players like Iran, Turkey and the EU. If we
add other disputed land, specifically Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan and
Javakhetia in Georgia and large swaths of eastern Turkey, this tangled
web is a recipe for a potentially bigger disaster in the future.

It easy to see why Azerbaijan and its people would never agree to
the separation of any of its internationally recognized territory
and would not be satisfied with anything but full restoration of
its territorial integrity and sovereignty. This becomes even more
credible in light of the economic development and population boom
in Azerbaijan, as compared with the more modest development and
decrease in population in Armenia, even though Armenia receives
disproportionately more economic aid from the West.

As the biggest country in the Caucasus, with significant interests and
responsibilities in the region, Russia now has a unique opportunity to
use its long-standing closeness with Armenia to settle the deadliest
and longest running conflict in the area by holding Armenia’s feet
to the fire. If the conflict is not settled justly based on the
territorial integrity of all states, Karabakh has the potential
to become a mutant version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
where everyone loses. If Russia wants to ensure its leadership in
the Caucasus, it needs to be on the winning side, on the side of
Azerbaijan. For too long, Russian policies were misguided, which
translated into awkwardness during elections in Georgia, Ukraine and
Abkhazia. It is important to have Azerbaijan as a friend and ally,
especially considering Azerbaijan’s not so far-fetched prospects of
eventual NATO and EU memberships.

There are three additional reasons why Russia would be better served in
supporting Azerbaijan’s position. First, size does matter. Azerbaijan
is the biggest country in the South Caucasus in all respects, including
the size of its army, the number of well-trained officers and soldiers,
and its ever-increasing military budget and morale. Arguments about
Armenian military superiority no longer hold water.

Second, Azerbaijan already has some $2 billion in foreign exchange
reserves. It has accomplished this even though major oil and gas
exports are due to begin only in 2006. At the same time, it has proven
exemplary in spending its newfound wealth, becoming the first country
to sign the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, setting
up a transparent and independently audited oil fund and getting high
marks from the International Monetary Fund and other international
institutions for its conservative, careful and scrupulous approach
to spending and to reducing corruption. Thus, Azerbaijan is becoming
an economic powerhouse in the region.

And finally, Azeris have quickly caught up on the tactics long used
by Armenians, undermining the significant advantage Armenia once held
in such important fields as diaspora building, grassroots activity,
lobbying and propaganda. Moreover, refugee children are coming of age,
which is having a natural impact on the mood of Azeri society.

To make a long story short, the international community must support
states’ territorial integrity and abide by the relevant international
laws. This means that Armenian military occupation of Nagorny Karabakh
and other lands in Azerbaijan must end.

Adil Baguirov has a Ph.D. in political science from MGIMO and is a
writer and researcher based in the United States. He contributed this
comment to The Moscow Times in response to a comment by John Antranig
Kasbarian on March 14, which discussed Armenian views on this conflict.

Le Figaro Recommends Mount Ararat for French Mountaineers French
newspaper Le Figaro has featured Mount Ararat as a destination for
French mountaineers and nature-lovers in its tourism supplement. The
article stressed the mythological importance of the eastern Turkish
mountain, and recommended it as a destination for mountaineers. The
article also wrote that Noah’s Ark is thought to have come to rest on
Ararat and detailed the expeditions that have sought to find remnants
of the ark, saying, “This tale breathes a romantic and mystic air to
the mountain”. The article also mentioned the troubled past of the
mountain, saying, “For a long time, tourists were frightened to go to
this region because of terrorist activities.” It concludes that, “With
permission from the authorities, there is now no problem for those
that set out to climb Mount Ararat.”
[15:28:00]

30.03.2005
Anadolu News Agency (aa)
Paris

ABC News

Gravely Ill Pope Losing Consciousness

By VICTOR L. SIMPSON Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY Apr 2, 2005 – Pope John Paul II showed the first signs of
losing consciousness at dawn on Saturday, the Vatican said, as priests
around the world prepared the Roman Catholic faithful for his passing.

But John Paul, 84, was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken to,
papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

The pope’s health began deteriorating Thursday after he suffered a urinary
tract infection. In its latest statement the Vatican, which earlier
described his heart and kidneys as failing, said his condition was unchanged
and “very grave.”

Navarro-Valls said the pope was still speaking late Friday but did not take
part when Mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.

“Since dawn this morning there have been first signs that consciousness is
being affected,” he said.

“Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you
speak to him, he opens his eyes,” Navarro-Valls said.

He said aides had told the pope that thousands of young people were in St.
Peter’s Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the pope appeared to be
referring to them when he seemed to say: “‘I have looked for you. Now you
have come to me. And I thank you.'”

Vatican cardinal Achille Silvestrini visited John Paul Saturday morning,
accompanied by another cardinal, Jean-Louis Tauran.

“I found him relaxed, placid, serene. He was in his bed. He was breathing
without labor. He looked like he lost weight,” Silvestrini said.

He said the when he and Tauran came into the room, the pope seemed to
recognize them.

“The pope showed with a vibration of his face that he understood, indicating
with a movement of his eyes. He showed he was reacting,” he added.

For a second day, the Vatican announced a series of papal appointments
including a Spanish bishop, an official of the Armenian Catholic Church and
ambassadors to El Salvador and Panama.

One of the pope’s closest aides, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was quoted
Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning, John Paul
was “aware that he is passing to the Lord.”

ARAM KARAPETIAN: “WE ARE DOOMED TO VICTORY”

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. “The process of national revolution
will start in April. And I am absolutely convinced to declare that we
are doomed to victory,” Aram Karapetian, Chairman of the Nor
Zhamanakner (New Times) party, declared at the March 30 second special
congress of the party. According to him, taking into account the
“pre-revolutionary situation” formed at present, there are 2 ways of
its solution, first, authorities’ negotiations with the opposition,
and second, unless this takes place all pre-conditions for the
realization of the Kyrghyzian variant will arise in the country.
Meanwhile the leader of Nor Zhamanakner party assured that there will
be no attacks on shops and breakage of cars, everything will proceed
in an exclusively peaceful way.

According to Karapetian, the party plans to realize the revolution by
3 stages: visits and meetings in all Armenian marzes, active agitation
activity with the population on the spot, collection of the critical
mass that should bring forward the main slogan to the authorities:
“Victory Everywhere and at All Times.” Aram Karapetian pessimistically
treats the conversations about a revolution from without. According to
him, the main conditions should mature in the country itself, which is
a pledge for the revolution. As for rumours that this or that
politician is a creature of some state, he declared: “We are nobody’s
friends and expect nothing from others, nobody promised us anything.
If I had come not from Russia but, for instance, from Czechia, would
they call me the minion of Czechs?” According to Aram Karapetian, the
party headed by him is going to propose the President that he should
dissolve the NA and government and then resign himself. Then at last
transparent and fair elections are to be held.

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
2005-04-01 12:02:17

Turkish-US Relations: The National Security Council and a Civilian Comment
Ferai Tinc
Columnist Ferai Tinc comments on Turkish-US relations. A summary of her
column is as follows:

`Turkish-US relations have recently been issue one for our country. Although
neither government will admit to there being a problem, recent media reports
have argued that there’s an ongoing crisis between Ankara and Washington.

National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Yigit Alpogan on Wednesday
delivered a remarkable speech on this issue at the Turkish-US Business
Council in Istanbul. `Recent `crisis’ allegations are baseless, but our
partnership must still be revamped,’ he said. `We need a healthier dialogue
and frank conversation.’

Attendees of the meeting included US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman and
Istanbul Chief Consul David Arnett. Alpogan underlined that first of all
Ankara’s doubts and concerns about Iraq must be dispelled so that bilateral
relations can be revamped.

`Our countries need to harmonize their policies on the northern Iraq and
Kirkuk issues,’ said Alpogan. `In this context, two essential issues that
come to mind are protecting Iraq’s territorial integrity and eliminating the
terrorist PKK’s presence in northern Iraq.’ Alpogan added that the US should
also support Turkey’s EU membership bid and not make concessions on the
so-called Armenian genocide allegations. Furthermore, he asked Washington to
see Ankara as an effective player in the Mideast peace process.

Not only Turkish but also American officials are currently trying to give
positive messages about bilateral relations. US Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld on Wednesday denied that he had criticized Turkey’s refusal to let
American troops deploy on its soil before the Iraq war. In addition, Edelman
said that intergovernmental relations were in fine shape.

However, the more positive messages we get, the more we tend to read between
the lines. Each day brings new and conflicting statements concerning
Incirlik Airbase. Although the Americans insist that their requests were
shaped in line with the Defense and Cooperation Agreement between our two
countries, Ankara believes that matters concerning third parties can’t be
evaluated in the context of this agreement.

Both sides are blaming the media for harming bilateral relations through
baseless exaggerations. However, as the problems are so obvious, these
accusations are completely unfair. As Alpogan said, `It’s the task of
officials of our two countries to defend common interests with courage and
without hesitation.’ This is an important point.’

Source: Hurriyet via BYEGM, 1 April 2005
2005-04-01 12:02:17

ARMENIA TO INTRODUCE TOUGHER INSPECTION OF FOOD AND PRODUCTS, POSING
RISK TO PUBLIC HEALTH

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, ARMENPRESS: Armenian trade and economic
development ministry said today it is going to introduce a set of
tougher supervision measures concerning foodstuff, products, goods and
services which potentially may pose risk to public health.

Robert Dayan, head of standardization and measurmeent department,
said the ministry will implement extensive inspections throughout the
year of foodstuff, chemical substances, cosmetics, oil prodcuts.

Dayan said the supervision will be manyfold- beginning from the
process of manufacturing, tramnsportation and ending with their
sale. He said the plan of measures was developed based on last year’s
findings, which revealed that though the majority of doemstically made
and imported food meets safety requirements, packaging of many
Armenia-made foodstuuf failed to meet some of these standards.

Netherlands beats Armenia 2-0 in World Cup qualifying

AP Worldstream
Mar 30, 2005

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Romeo Castelen scored first-half goals
Wednesday to give the Netherlands a 2-0 win over Armenia in a World
Cup qualifier.

The Dutch lead Group 1 with 16 points, one point more than the Czech
Republic and two more than Romania.

Castelen opened the scoring after three minutes, shooting from close
range after Armenian defenders failed to clear a Mark van Bommel
corner kick.

Half an hour later, Van Nistelrooy collected a pass by Van Bommel and
rounded goalkeeper Roman Berezovski before making it 2-0.

Armenia had its best chance when Armen Shahgeldyan launched an attack
by stealing the ball from Netherlands defender Wilfred
Bouma. Netherlands ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar deflected Ara Hakobyan’s
shot with his legs.

Steady rain made the field slippery and led to clumsy play by both
sides. Armenia played an increasingly defensive game in the second
half.

Berezovski dived to stop a Van Nistelrooy header in the 63rd and slid
into the post. Giovanni van Bronckhorst then hammered a long-range
volley off Armenia’s crossbar.

“We had more shots in the second half even though we played worse,”
Van der Sar said. “The best chances literally slipped away.”