Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

TURKISH LAWYER DEMANDS RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

news.am
March 31 2010
Armenia

Turkish lawyer Bendal Celil Ezman appealed to the Turkish court,
demanding the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, condemnation of
Talat Pasha and renaming of streets with the latter’s name.

Haberturk reports, that the lawyer participated in a
signature-gathering "Forgive us, Armenians" campaign. He insisted that
in 1915 Armenians fell victims to the planned pogroms. The lawyer
pointed out that he was denied to be given the documents on the
trials held in 1918 and 1922, when those responsible for displacing
Armenians in April and May 1915 were found guilty. "Turkey should face
its history. It is the first time Turkey hears such a case," he said.

THREE PREDICTIONS ABOUT WAYS OF ARMENIA-TURKEY TALKS BY SAFARIAN

Aysor
March 31 2010
Armenia

Armenian parliamentarian of the oppositional Heritage Party of Armenia
Stepan Safarian says that there are three ways of Armenia-Turkey
relations’ move.

"The first way is a failure of the process: here it’s favorable to
Armenian authorities if Turkey thwarts talks, while the opposition
doesn’t care who exactly would thwarts the process– what matters
is that the negotiations thwarted. Turkey is interested in talks’
failure as well; however, it will wish to blame Armenia for that,"
said politician.

"I consider freezing the process to be the second way of possible
happenings, and here Armenian and Turkish positions come in line
with each other. In this case international community will suppress
Turkey, and the issue of Genocide will be discussed at Parliaments
of various countries."

Referring to the third way, Stepan Safarian said: "It is the possible
ratification for Armenia-Turkey protocols, unfavorable way neither
to Armenia, nor to Turkey."

IMF APPROVES $74 MILLION DISBURSEMENT TO ARMENIA

2010/03 /30 | 16:04

finances

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board has completed
the third review of Armenia’s economic performance under a program
supported by a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The decision enables
the immediate release of an amount equivalent to SDR 48.485 million
(about US$73.6 million), bringing total disbursements so far to SDR
350.425 million (about US$532.2 million).

The 28-month SBA was approved for an amount equivalent to a total of
SDR 368.0 million (about US$558.9 million) on March 6, 2009, with a
total amount of access augmented to an amount equivalent to SDR 533.6
million (about US$810.4 million) on June 22, 2009.

Following the Executive Board’s discussion on Armenia, Mr. Murilo
Portugal, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, stated, "Armenia’s
performance under its Stand-By Arrangement with the Fund has been
strong, and the economic recession appears to have bottomed out, aided
by supportive monetary and fiscal policies. The challenge remains
to support the fragile recovery, address external vulnerabilities,
and advance a credible fiscal consolidation plan over the medium term.

CHILD TRAFFICKING

rahos17352.html
16:05:00 – 30/03/2010

Today in Armenia, a presentation of the results of the study "Child
trafficking in Armenia" was held. Head of EU delegation, Raul de
Lyutsenberger noted that this study may be a good basis for the
Armenian authorities to formulate legislation and to further better
the existing legislation aimed at protecting children’s rights.

The study was carried out in October-December 2009 in 1200 households.

It polled 800 children from 5 regions for awareness about trafficking.

Among adults, the level of awareness is higher than among children.

More aware are girls than boys, wealthy families know more about
trafficking. 64.2% of students of grades 9-11 are aware of the
trafficking, said the study author Mira Antonyan.

About 60% said they were not afraid of trafficking, and it shows
our vulnerability. "They are even willing to send their children to
work outside their village, in case of a salary and normal working
conditions", says Antonyan. The study did not identify instances
of trafficking.

The project is financed by the European Union and the Czech government,
which allocated 448 454 Euros, 90% of which gave the EU.

GENOCIDE SYMPOSIUM SET FOR ANKARA IN APRIL

2010/03/30 | 14:13

region

A symposium entitled "1915 within its pre- and post-historical
periods: Denial and Confrontation" is scheduled to take place in
Ankara, Turkey on April 25-26.Organized by Turkish publisher Ragip
Zarakolu , the symposium will discuss such themes as, "Armenian
Issue from Historical Perspective", "Official Ideological Denial
and Extirpation From Committee of Union and Progress to Kemalism",
"Turkification of Capital or What Happened to the Armenian Abandoned
Properties?" and "Armenian Issue": What and How is to be done?

VARTAN AYVAZIAN CENSURE PAR LE HKK
par Marion

armenews
lundi29 mars 2010
Armenie

Le Parti republicain (HHK), n’a pas nie avoir censure les propos
d’un de ses membres qui soutient les critiques de Gagik Tsarukian,
leader du parti Armenie prospère (BHK).

Le HHK a formule un avertissement " strict " a l’egard de Vartan
Ayvazian, president d’une commission parlementaire sur les affaires
economiques, lors d’une reunion tenue lundi.

Une brève declaration explique qu’Ayvazian a viole une clause du HHK
qui oblige chaque membre du parti a se conformer aux decisions prises
par " les instances superieures ".

Cet avertissement est lie au fait qu’Ayvazian a soutenu l’attaque
cinglante de Tsarukian contre le ministre du Commerce et du
Developpement economique, Nerses Yeritsian.

Le leader du Parti Armenie prospère a mis en doute les competences
de Yeritsian, et a denonce ses allegations selon lesquelles la crise
economique de l’Armenie est terminee.

Yeritsian, qui a rejoint le HHK a la fin de l’annee dernière, a
retorque que Tsarukian devrait plutôt evaluer le travail des autres
ministres affilies au BHK.

Ayvazian, ex-ministre de l’Environnement, a evite tout contact avec
les medias depuis la reunion du conseil du HHK.

Les critiques de Tsarukian et celles de Robert Kotcharian sur la
politique economique armenienne, ont declenche de serieux desaccords
au sein de la coalition gouvernementale.

Ayvazian est soupconne d’avoir beneficie du soutien personnel de
Kotcharian, quand il etait au sein du gouvernement.

THE UNIVERSE ON PALMS FILM TO BE SCREENED DURING EVENT DEDICATED TO GRIGOR GURZADYAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
30.03.2010 16:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ HayART cultural center will organize an event
dedicated to famous Armenian astrophysicist Grigor Gurzadyan on
April 2. During it, in addition to The Universe on Palms film,
60 paintings and several books of Terlemezyan Art College graduate,
astrophysicist will be presented, specifically The Universe on Palms,
Cosmic Catastrophe, History of Love, Thoughts…Thoughts, Kaqavaberd
Mystery, My Son at Ararat Peak.

"The film is created on the basis of video records and interviews
conducted with Grigor Gurzadyan in different periods of time. Each
conversation with him is so interesting that I considered it a
necessity to make them available," Rita Sharoyan, the Director of
HayART cultural center and the film’s author, told a PanARMENIAN.Net
correspondent.

Grigor Gurzadyan is a famous Armenian astrophysicist and
scientist. He was born in 1922 in Baghdad (Iraq.) He participated in
the establishment of Byurakan observatory. Orion space observatories
were created under his leadership and placed at Salyut orbital station
and Soyuz space rocket.

CLINTON MAKES PLEDGE ON GENOCIDE RESOLUTION – TURKEY

Swissinfo
/international/Clinton_makes_pledge_on_genocide_re solution_-_Turkey.html?cid=8579252
March 29 2010
Switzerland

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has
assured Turkey that the White House opposes a congressional resolution
labelling the World War One massacres of Armenians in Turkey as
genocide, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The ministry issued the statement after a telephone call between
Clinton and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday.

The United States is keen to smooth over relations with Turkey, NATO’s
only Muslim member, and a key ally in trouble spots from Afghanistan
to the Middle East.

Turkey recalled its ambassador in Washington after a U.S. House of
Representatives committee approved a non-binding resolution on March
4 calling on President Barack Obama to refer to the killings of as
many as 1.5 million Armenians almost a century ago as genocide.

It is unclear whether the resolution will go to a vote of the full
House of Representatives — or whether it could pass.

"Secretary Clinton emphasized that the U.S. administration opposes
both the decision accepted by the committee and the decision reaching
the general assembly," the statement said.

In Washington, a State Department spokesman said Clinton and Davutoglu
also talked about Turkey’s decision to recall its ambassador from
Washington.

"Certainly, from our standpoint, we understand the reasons why Turkey,
you know, recalled its ambassador, and we hope that the ambassador
will be returned as quickly as Turkey feels comfortable," State
Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Clinton and Davutoglu had a "warm and constructive conversation,
and both the minister and the secretary underscored the importance
of our strategic partnership between Turkey and the United States,"
Crowley said.

More than 20 countries recognise the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks nearly a century ago as genocide. Turkey argues that both Turks
and Armenians were killed during the chaos of war and the break-up
of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey now wants to be sure that Obama will not use the term genocide
in an address scheduled for April 24, underscoring its concerns with
a halt on high-profile visits by its officials.

Davutoglu told Clinton the congressional committee’s resolution had
hurt efforts to improve stability in the South Caucasus.

While Turkey and Armenia are trying to normalise relations and open
their shared border, progress is complicated by hostility between
Armenia and Turkey’s fellow-Muslim ally, Azerbaijan.

Clinton said U.S. officials hoped Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
would attend a summit in Washington next month on nuclear disarmament,
the foreign ministry statement said.

Davutoglu said Erdogan would decide in the next few days whether
to attend the April 13-14 meeting, where more than 40 world leaders
are expected.

Turkey has offered to use its close ties with Iran in Tehran’s dispute
with the West over its nuclear program, but has indicated it may not
support a fourth round of U.N. sanctions being prepared by the United
States and other Western powers.

EU TO LAUNCH A BORDER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IN TBILISI

Aysor
March 29 2010
Armenia

Today, in Tbilisi, the EU will launch a new Border Management
South Caucasus Program, initiated by UN Development Program (UNDP)
in assistance with the International Center for Migration Policy
Development (ICMPD).

The 6,3 million euro cost program is aimed at contribution to Armenian,
Georgia, and Azerbaijani governments, helping them to implement a
border management system to reinforce solidarity and cooperation
in managing the external border and in developing an EU immigration
policy.

Trend, Azerbaijan
March 26 2010

Georgian citizens to be deported from Poland

Georgia, Tbilisi, March 26 / Trend News N.Kirtzkhalia /

Another group of Georgian citizens will be deported from Poland March 30.

Armenian citizens will also be deported, Georgian Ambassador to Poland
Konstantine Kavtaradze said.

According to the official, 10 Georgian citizens are waiting for
deportation in a refugee camp. They will arrive together with the
Armenian citizens via a special flight on route from
Warsaw-Vienna-Tbilisi-Yerevan.