Author: Topchian Jane

REFORMS OF ARMENIA’S PENSION SYSTEM REQUIRE CONSIDERABLE FINANCIAL RESOURCES

Noyan Tapan
March 11, 2010

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Reforms of the pension system will
start in Armenia in 2011, as a result of which the country will
switch to a multistage pension system. Head of the RA State Social
Security Service Vazgen Khachikian said during the March 11 press
conference that the problem of pension reforms arose in Armenia as
long ago as 1995. In his words, pension reforms take much time and
require considerable financial resources.

He explained that when a citizen retires, the pension will be
calculated based on his (her) contribution. "The principle of
determining the amount of the pension will be clear and comprehensible
to the citizen: this amount will depend on how many payments the
given citizen made during his (her) labor activity," he said.

According to V. Khachikian, the rise in gas and water tariffs will
not result in social unrest. "If we take into account the fact that
the pensions have almost doubled in the past three years, no matter
how much the water and gas tariffs rise, they will not exceed the
indices that we have had in the form of increased pensions, benefits,
other social payments," he said.

He noted that in connection with the tariff rise, the government is now
discussing several scenarios, including the review of family allowances
and social subsidies. The department head assured those present that
the government will put forward the appropriate initiative until
April 1. In his words, it will be possible to obtain the necessary
money so that the growth of gas and water prices will not affect
negatively the socially vulnerable groups.

THE BETRAYAL OF SOULS AND THE DENIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

php?article=12016
March 8th 2010

In the book The Guilt of Nations, Elazar Barkan wrote, "For a ‘new’
history to become more than a partisan ‘extremist’ story, the narrative
often has to persuade not only the members of the group that will
‘benefit’ from the new interpretation but also their ‘others,’ those
whose own history will presumably be ‘diminished,’ or tainted by
the new stories." Clearly Turkey’s reaction to the vote by the House
Foreign Affairs Committee on the Armenian Genocide resolution shows
that Turkey remains unpersuaded by its own guilt. This is painful to
continue to witness.

Nearly a hundred years after the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians
by Turkish forces during World War One, Turkey, an otherwise moderate
country, continues to deny what eyewitness accounts prove to be an
undeniable fact. Turkey’s reaction in recalling its Ambassador to
the United States is both heavy-handed and a touch of "thou protesth
too much."

In recent efforts to defeat similar resolutions, Turkey has enlisted
the help of high-paid Washington lobbyists to cajole, persuade, and
arm twist individual Members of Congress to make it impossible to pass
the resolution recognizing this genocide. Threats of dire consequences
to US-Turkish relations ensued, with cynical accusations of damaging
the relationship over a resolution recognizing what the world already
knew to be true. March 4th’s Turkish reaction is no different.

During the Senate Banking Committee’s three-year investigation into
the actions of the Swiss banks withholding of the assets of Holocaust
victims, Swiss banks tried the same trick of buying their way out
of trouble. Perhaps in the end, their settlement with the survivors
and claimants of $1.25 billion was tantamount to the same, but it was
nevertheless accompanied with a quasi-admission of guilt. For Turkey,
there is plenty of money being spent to fight the campaign against
them, but certainly no admission of responsibility or wrongdoing is
forthcoming, only simple, stubborn, unremitting denial.

Turkey’s denial of its forefathers’ actions would be laughable were it
not so deadly serious for its historical precedent. As it has often
been said, Turkey’s genocide of the Armenians opened the door to
further genocides in the twentieth century: the Holocaust, Cambodia,
Biafra, Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan, and the long list goes on. Official
Turkey is overwhelmed with denial.

During meetings with Turkish diplomats years ago in Ankara to discuss
Turkey’s role on the ill-fated United Nations Oil-for-Food program,
instead of addressing the topic I was serenaded by complaints about
the "propaganda" spewed from Armenian summer camps in California about
the "supposed genocide." Even Turks who promote the idea within their
own country, including Nobel Laureates, are prosecuted. This is sad.

While this denial is awful in its construction, it is harmful
no less to Turks than it is to Armenians. For Turkey to continue
this irresponsible attitude is to tar their country with an almost
snickering response to its protestations. Far better for Turkey
would be to confess its wrongdoings in a responsible, humble way and
to move forward. Germany, the obvious poster child for historical
guilt and genocidal successor to the Turks-as Hans Frank, the former
Governor-General of Poland was to have stated, "A thousand years will
pass and the guilt of Germany will not be erased."-has long dealt
with the responsibility for its crimes.

Some will say that now is not the right time. They will say Turkey
and Armenia are in delicate negotiations. They say it will damage
Israel’s relations with this important Muslim country. While not
discounting the threats Turkey will bring out, surely, the souls of
those marched out into the Anatolian desert and slaughtered cry out
for more. They cry out for recognition.

About the Holocaust, Alan Dershowitz argues, all Jews are victims. For
the Armenians, the same is true. Jews are so clearly pained when idiots
who deny the Holocaust do so with a straight face, defiant in their
ignorance. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Holocaust is a lie, Jews
cringe. How must Armenians feel when Turkey denies its responsibility
for the same type of crime? As long as Turkey refuses responsibility
for its sins, then all Armenians are in fact victims: the souls of the
Armenian dead wander and their descendants are betrayed. The time for
denial is over and the time for recognition is overdue. When this crime
is finally recognized, memory, history, and truth will be restored.

Cutting Edge contgribuitor Gregg J. Rickman served as the first U.S.

Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism from 2006-2009. He
is a Senior Fellow for the Study and Combat of Anti-Semitism at the
Institute on Religion and Policy in Washington, DC; a Visiting Fellow
at The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism
at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut; and a Research Scholar
at the Initiative on Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism of the Institute
for Jewish & Community Research in San Francisco.

Armenian community of Malta thanks US House Committee on Foreign
Affairs for adopting resolution condemning Armenian Genocide

2010-03-06 13:20:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian community of Malta has thanked the US House
Committee on Foreign Affairs for its principled position and courage
in adopting a resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide.

In their statement the Malta-based Armenians express their admiration
with the congressmen who have supported the resolution as their
actions and principled position help to restore the historical justice
and prove that the United States is a great country, where democracy
and freedom are above all. "We hope that they will bring this cause to
a fair end," say the Maltese Armenians

The Age, Australia
March 7 2010

Congress bows to Obama concerns on genocide vote

MARY BETH SHERIDAN, WASHINGTON
March 7, 2010 .

CONGRESSIONAL leaders have bowed to concerns from the Obama
administration and agreed not to have a full House of Representatives
vote on a resolution that labels as genocide the killing of Armenians
in Turkey during World War I.

The non-binding resolution, which narrowly passed the House Foreign
Affairs Committee a day earlier, prompted a furious reaction from NATO
ally Turkey, which recalled its ambassador from Washington.

Turkey is critical to US security interests because of its support for
war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also will have a key vote at
the UN if the Security Council considers sanctions against Iran.

Turkish officials said on Friday the resolution could also torpedo an
agreement aimed at normalising their country’s relations with Armenia.
The accord was mediated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

”We believe congressional leaders understand the severe impact any
further action would have on normalisation between Turkey and Armenia.
We believe that this will not come to the floor,” an administration
official said.

The committee’s resolution says the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of
modern-day Turkey, killed 1.5 million ethnic Armenians from 1915 to
1923. It asks the president to ensure that US foreign policy reflects
”appropriate understanding” of the atrocity and ”the consequences
of the failure to realise a just resolution”.

The issue is an awkward one for the administration because, in their
previous roles as senators, President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe
Biden and Mrs Clinton had all called on president George Bush to
declare the mass killings a genocide.

The chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, a lobby
group, had praised the committee for passing the resolution. ”You
cannot have a relationship or a reconciliation based upon lies,”
Kenneth Hachikian said. ”Turkey can’t come to the table and say let’s
reconcile but we deny what the rest of the world acknowledges.”

The resolution noted that England, France and Russia called the
killings a crime against humanity at the time, and that Turkey’s own
government indicted the leaders of the massacres after World War I.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians were killed during
and immediately after the war. But its officials and some historians
say the deaths related to other factors at the end of the Ottoman
Empire and were not a campaign of genocide.

What happened in 1915?
– During the First World War, Armenians formed volunteer battalions to
help the Russian army against the Turks. Early in 1915, these
battalions organised the recruiting of Turkish Armenians. The Turkish
government reacted by ordering the deportation of the Armenian
population. About 1 million died from starvation or were killed along
the route. Many fled to Russian Armenia where, in 1918, an Armenian
republic was established.

– The 1948 UN convention on genocide defines genocide as ”any of the
following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing
members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members
of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in
part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
[and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.

– Armenians allege what happened was an act of genocide. Turkey
accepts that atrocities took place but argues that there was no
systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenians. It puts the
number of deaths at about 300,000 and says many innocent Muslim Turks
also died in the turmoil of war.

– Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy and Russia are among more
than 20 countries that have formally recognised genocide against the
Armenians.

gress-bows-to-obama-concerns-on-genocide-vote-2010 0306-pps5.html

Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
3325 North Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, Ca 91504
Tel: 818-558-7474
Fax: 818-558-6333
Web:

Western Diocese e-Newsletter

Dear Reader

The fourth Sunday of the Lenten Journey offers us the special time to
evaluate the course of our life. According to our church tradition, we
are offered the parable of the unjust steward, which mirrors in its
broader scope, our relationship with God. Often, we fail in our
responsibilities to live a life with God, and in applying the messages
of Christ, our Lord, in our everyday life. However, we are challenged
to set a new beginning as we make the firm decision to change the
course of our life. We are all stewards in the vineyard of the
Almighty and are entrusted by God to bring the good tidings to the
world. And we all tend to go astray as we cease to be the messenger of
God’s Word. However, as we are called with a rebuke and warned to be
stripped of our privilege, we then ought to acknowledge that the hour
of decision is at hand to evaluate the course of our life.

For a Christian, change has a unique significance. It connotes to our
connectedness to the Creator and our return to God. Christianity is
all about living the word of God and becoming the "salt" and the
"light" in the life of the world. Surrendering into the hands of God,
partnering with God, Confessing to God and praying for forgiveness are
all courageous acts of faith. Furthermore, they require from us the
firm commitment: the hour of decision. God calls on us all to be His
Servants. This honor and the privilege from bestowed upon us by God
leads us to spiritual transformation.

"Make your life a mission – not an intermission". Arnold Glasgow

March 7, 2010

Archbishop Hovnan Derderian

Primate

The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, providing
spiritual guidance and leadership to the Armenian Apostolic community,
is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization comprised of more
than 50 churches in 16 western states. It was established in 1898 as
the Diocese of the Armenian Church encompassing the entire United
States and Canada. In 1927 the Western Diocese was formed to
exclusivly serve the western United States.

CBC Canada
March 5 2010

Turkey warns U.S. against genocide vote

Last Updated: Friday, March 5, 2010 | 7:40 AM ET
CBC News

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a U.S. congressional
committee’s declaration that the First World War-era killing of
Armenians was genocide could hurt ties between Turkey and the U.S.
(Burhan Ozbilici/Associated Press)
Turkey’s foreign minister warned the Obama administration on Friday of
negative diplomatic consequences if it does not do more to block a
U.S. resolution branding the World War I-era killing of Armenians as
genocide.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would assess what
measures it would take should a resolution approved Thursday pass in
the U.S. House of Representatives.

"We expect the U.S. administration to, as of now, display more
effective efforts. Otherwise the picture ahead will not be a positive
one," Davutoglu told reporters.

The U.S. foreign affairs committee panel approved the resolution
declaring the Ottoman-era killing of Armenians genocide with a 23-22
vote. The resolution is now set to go before the full House.

Obama has urged the congressional panel not to approve the resolution,
saying he did not want to upset promising talks between Turkey and
Armenia on improving relations and opening their border.

Turkey also remains a key Muslim ally for the United States in the
Middle East, and Washington was expected to press Turkey to support
sanctions against Iran to be approved by the UN Security Council,
where Turkey holds a seat.

Canada recognized genocide in 2004
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks in 1915 at the end of the First World War.

The deaths are widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first
genocide of the 20th century. But Turkey denies that the deaths
constituted genocide and contends the toll has been inflated and the
casualties were victims of civil war and unrest.

Canada recognized the deaths as genocide in 2004, after Parliament
voted 153-68 to adopt a Bloc Québécois motion that condemned the act
as "a crime against humanity."

Twice since then, Turkey has recalled its ambassador to Canada in
response to what it viewed as overt shows of support for the branding
of the event as a genocide, most recently in April last year after
Canadian officials reportedly attended an event in Ottawa organized to
mark the fifth anniversary of parliament recognizing the 1915 killings
as genocide.

Canadian officials have repeatedly stated, however, that the country’s
position on the mass deaths of Armenians more than 90 years ago was
not an indictment of modern Turkey.

The U.S. foreign affairs committee approved a similar genocide measure
in 2007, but the House chose not to vote on it after facing pressure
by top officials in the administration of then President George W.
Bush.

5/turkey-armenia-us.html

Armenia Interested in Resolving Disagreements among Its Allies and Neighbors

13:14 – 06.03.10

It is in Armenia’s interest to resolve any current disagreement among
its allies, partners and neighbors, Armenian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Edward Nalbandian said when asked on a local Armenian TV
program whether Armenia would succeed in the future in developing its
relations with Iran, Georgia, the US, Russia, and the European Union
given complicated Russo-Georgian relations and Iran’s issues with the
US and the EU on its nuclear program.

`We seek deepening our strategic, allied relations with Russia far
more. We want to extend our friendly partnership with the US, the
European Union, the EU member states. As for what concerns the good
neighborly relations and partnership with our neighbors Georgia and
Iran, it is natural that we want to develop and assert them far more
[too],’ said Nalbandian.

Asked would Armenia be ready should those countries ask Armenia to act
as a mediator, Nalbandian said that one shouldn’t overestimate
Armenia’s abilities, though sometimes Armenia too happens to be able
to assume the role of effective mediator.

`This was proven when negotiations on the opening of the Upper Lars
checkpoint were held in Armenia. They [negotiations] succeeded. The
negotiations were conducted through Armenia’s mediation, and today
when the checkpoint is open we can say that it is a great success for
Russia, for Georgia and, of course, for Armenia too,’ said Nalbandian.

Tert.am

Genocide Bill Seen As U.S. Pressure On Turkey In Yerevan
75827.html

05.03.2010
Tigran Avetisian, Irina Hovannisian

Washington did not prevent a U.S. congressional panel from approving
the Armenian genocide resolution on Thursday in order to press Turkey
to ratify its normalization agreements with Armenia, leading
pro-government politicians in Yerevan speculated on Friday.

Official Yerevan swiftly hailed the decision by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee as a `an important step toward the prevention of the
crimes against humanity.’ But senior representatives of Armenia’s two
largest governing parties saw other, more important factors were also
behind the development.

Razmik Zohrabian, a deputy chairman of President Serzh Sarkisian’s
Republican Party (HHK), said the U.S. administration is increasingly
frustrated with Ankara’s reluctance to unconditionally ratify the
Turkish-Armenian protocols. The administration hopes the prospect of
U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide will make the Turks drop
their ratification preconditions, he said.

`I think those who voted for the resolution … also felt that they
should spur the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation process that has
stalled of late,’ agreed Aram Safarian, a senior lawmaker from the
Prosperous Armenia Party, the HHK’s junior coalition partner.

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Safarian claimed that the
Turkish government and parliament will increasingly understand the
need to take `practical steps towards the ratification of these
protocols’ in the weeks ahead. `Otherwise, U.S., European Union and
Russian sponsorship of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue prove to be a
waste of time,’ he said.

U.S. officials have repeatedly called on Ankara and Yerevan to
implement the agreements `without preconditions and within a
reasonable timeframe.’ The Armenian government has warned that it will
walk away from the deal if the Turks persist in linking protocol
ratification with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

`If Turkey’s parliament ratifies the protocols with reservations …
that will amount to the abrogation of the agreements,’ Zohrabian told
RFE/RL. `We will definitely not ratify them in that case.’

Aleksandr Arzumanian, a former foreign minister affiliated with the
main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) also construed the
genocide bill’s approval as U.S. pressure on Ankara. But he said the
administration of President Barack Obama will prevent the bill from
reaching the House floor in any case.

`I’m sure they will use their administrative resources in full to keep
the [House] speaker from putting the bill to a House vote,’ Arzumanian
told RFE/RL.

`Oligarch’ Confirms Another Disputed Takeover
05.03.2010

Sargis Harutyunyan
e/1975818.html

Ruben Hayrapetian, a government-linked wealthy entrepreneur, confirmed
on Friday that he has become the owner of yet another company claimed
by the embattled family of a fellow businessman supporting the
Armenian opposition.

Hayrapetian told RFE/RL that he has purchased a controlling stake in
the Byuregh mineral water plant from two little-known businessmen. One
of them, Gor Davtian, is the main witness in a controversial criminal
case brought against a younger brother of opposition-linked tycoon
Khachatur Sukiasian.

Saribek Sukiasian was detained on February 12 in a police raid on the
Yerevan headquarters of the Sukiasian family’s SIL Concern group and
held in police custody for three days. He was subsequently charged
with illegally keeping Davtian in the SIL offices.

The police claim he tried to force Davtian to sign fake documents
relating to Byuregh’s ownership. Sukiasian strongly denies the
accusation, saying that it is part of a broader government vendetta
waged against his exiled brother.

The Sukiasians bought almost 86 percent of Byuregh from Davtian and
the other shareholder, Robert Harutiunian, in late 2008. An Armenian
court annulled the deal last November.

According to Saribek Sukiasian’s lawyers, the two sides were close to
signing another takeover agreement in the weeks leading up to the
police inquiry. They say Davtian visited the SIL headquarters on
February 12 to ask Sukiasian for protection against Hayrapetian, who
allegedly used threats to warn him against selling his Byuregh shares
to Sukiasian.

`The criminal proceedings against Saribek Sukiasian made things easier
for them,’ one of the lawyers, Lusine Sahakian, insisted on Friday,
referring to the Armenian authorities. `They wanted to make sure they
can keep Gor Davtian under their control.’

Sahakian said Hayrapetian, who heads the Armenian Football Federation
and is a staunch backer of President Serzh Sarkisian, formalized the
Byuregh takeover on February 22, ten days after Sukiasian’s arrest.

Hayrapetian confirmed the information when contacted by RFE/RL’s
Armenian service. But he insisted that he did not coerce any of the
shareholders into selling their shares to him.

Neither man has been available for comment. Davtian’s whereabouts have
been unknown ever since the launch of the criminal proceedings against
Sukiasian.

Hayrapetian angrily denied any role in Sukiasian’s prosecution. `I’m
going to make more acquisitions,’ he added without elaboration.

The pro-government tycoon already acquired late last year another
water plant that was owned by the Sukiasians until being confiscated
by the Armenian government. Tax officials raided the Bjni company and
accused it of large-scale tax evasion shortly after Khachatur
Sukiasian publicly voiced support for opposition Levon Ter-Petrosian
in September 2007.

APA, Azerbaijan
March 5 2010

Novruz Mammadov: `After such passage, Armenia will uplift more and
will not demonstrate just position in Nagorno Karabakh conflict’

[ 05 Mar 2010 19:50 ]

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. `The House Committee of Foreign Affairs
has recognized so-called Armenian genocide by holding wide,
comprehensive discussions, organizing voting in different forms’,
Chief of the International Relations Department of the Presidential
Administration Novruz Mammadov told APA in his exclusive interview on
passage of so-called Armenian genocide resolution at US Congress
Committee.

`We don’t consider it is a just decision, just position, we denounce
it’, chief of the department expressed his regret: `It isn’t a just
and right decision. The fact is that, before the passage of that
resolution, Turkey noted that we must solve the problem together. We
live in a difficult situation in the 21st century. It concerns the
countries too. As if, there is one justice crisis in the entire world.
The fact is that Turkey is one of the important countries in the
region. It is one of the main supporters of US, main member country of
NATO. It has powerful army and powerful economy. I think that it is a
kind of pressure on Turkey. After the collapse of Warsaw Treaty I
can’t understand the attitude towards Turkey. It is impossible to
understand with the justice of this position’.
Mammadov noted that such developments may negatively influence on
solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Unfortunately, today, the
leading powers of the world want to subordinate the ongoing processes
to their interests. Therefore, the justice is always violated.