Author: Varosian Antranik

Second Turkish Film Festival in Armenia

10:49 – 20.03.10

>From March 25-27, the second Turkish Film Festival will take place in
Yerevan. As told to Tert.am by festival director Georgy Vanyan, 77
films were received from Ankara, Istanbul, Adana, Diyarbakir, Izmir
and other Turkish cities and regions for `23.5′ (as the festival is
called).

Some of the films in the line-up are those made by Turkish filmmakers
living in other countries. The festival jury chose 10 films for the
competition program.

The results of the first Turkish Film Festival in Armenia (which took
place in March 2009) will be announced at the festival’s opening
ceremony, which will take place at the American University of Armenia
Business Center.

Welcome speeches and opening remarks will be made by British
Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia Charles Lonsdale, bilingual
weekly Agos editor and Hrant Dink Foundation representative Aris
Nalci, and 7 journalists from key publications in Turkey, who will
write about the festival in Armenia for the Turkish public.

The festival is realized with the help of the Caucasus Center for
Peace-Making Initiatives in Yerevan and supported by the British
Embassy in Armenia within the framework of the `A Step Toward
Dialogue: Armenia-Azerbaijan-Turkey’ initiative.

Tert.am

Turks accuse PM Erdogan of racism

20.03.2010 13:41 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ More than 100 protesters took to the streets of
Istanbul Friday, accusing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
of racism over his threat to deport illegal Armenian workers.

Between 100-150 demonstrators marched along the Istiklal Avenue, the
main commercial street on the European side of the city, carrying
banners with the inscription "You are not Alone" in Turkish, English,
Armenian and Kurdish.

"Tayyip should be deported! A world without nations, borders and
classes," chanted the demonstrators gathered at the call of a
non-governmental organization campaigning for immigrants’ rights.

A statement, distributed to the press, accused Erdogan of treating
Armenian immigrants as a pawn in Ankara’s protests against some
foreign parliament’s recognition of Armenian Genocide by Ottoman
Turks.

"We strongly condemn Erdogan… and those who share his racist and
discriminatory mentality," the statement added.

The demonstration ended peacefully, AFP reported.

PACE ‘FAILS’ TO FULFILL DECISIONS ON ARMENIA

news.az
March 19 2010
Azerbaijan

PACE "The Council of Europe should give an objective assessments to
the events in Armenia following the presidential elections.

According to member of the delegation in PACE, MP Gultekin Hajibeyli,
though the issue has long been on the PACE delegation, it has not
received the due assessment.

"PACE has not yet fulfilled the resolutions on Armenia. There is
still a great number of citizens under pressure in Armenia. Therefore,
the organization should voice its position on this issue", Hajibeyli
said according to the website of the ruling party of Azerbaijan.

Tamilla Sencaply News.Az

ARMENIA’S VICE-PREMIER VISITS KOTAYK REGION

Aysor
March 19 2010
Armenia

Armenia’s Vice-Premier, Minister of Territorial Administration of
Armenia Armen Gevorkian, has paid a visit to Kotayk Region, accompanied
by region’s governor Kovalenko Shakhgaldian, a spokesperson for
Ministry of Territorial Administration said.

Visit’s key objective was to learn construction works of the Marmarika
Reservoir, carried in the framework of the World Bank hydro project.

The construction works of Marmarika Reservoir of Kotayk Region have
been starting in 2006, and are scheduled to be finished by this
year’s October. According to review reports, nearly 80% of project
works are implemented.

The Marmarika Reservoir is expected will provide 24 million cubic
meters of water supply to the Kotayk Region and Ararat Valley across
1200 hectares, at the same time helping to reduce water expending
from Sevan Lake.

JIVAN GASPARYAN MAY PARTICIPATE IN EUROVISION 2010 WITH EVA RIVAS

Tert.am
16:32 ~U 19.03.10

Famous Armenian duduk player Jivan Gasparyan may take part in the
2010 Eurovision Song Contest together with Eva Rivas, representing
Armenia, said Gasparyan himself to Tert.am at a press conference
launching his newly released album today.

Gasparyan mentioned that he had received the invitation from Valeri
Saharyan, the singer’s producer and head of the "Armenia Production"
producing centre.

Gasparyan also said he had promised to participate then, but now has
to listen to the song first and then decide whether he will perform
the duduk portion in the song during Rivas’s performance.

Referring to Eurovision 2010, Gasparyan said it is not a serious
contest as it is SMS voting and not professionals that decide who
the winners are.

Asked how likely Gasparyan’s participation is in Eurovision, Saharyan
told Tert.am that "anything is possible," adding that Gasparyan’s
participation might be a winning card in Eva’s performance.

PATRIARCH KIRILL, CATHOLICOS GAREGIN VISIT ORTHODOX CHURCH IN YEREVAN

The Voice of Russia
tml
March 18 2010

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill accompanied by Catholicos
of All Armenians Garegin II, on Wednesday visited a newly-restored
early-20th-century Orthodox church in Yerevan during his trip to
Armenia. Under the Bolshevik rule, the church was closed and the
building was used first as a canteen and then as a storage site and a
movie theater. In 1991, it was returned to the Russian church. Also,
the two hierarchs visited a school for children of Russian servicemen.

Set up 15 years ago, the school has recently moved into a venue built
with the assistance of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian
embassy in Yerevan and the Moscow City Hall. In the school, Patriarch
Kirill met with representatives of the Russian diaspora.

HOUSE ‘GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION MAY HAVE CONSEQUENCES

Examiner.com
March 18 2010

A resolution passed recently by the House Foreign Affairs Committee
which labeled Turkey’s early 20th-century atrocities against
the Armenian people as ‘genocide’ may be causing the unintended
consequences some opponents said it would.

Turkey’s prime minister has threatened to expel thousands of illegal
Armenian workers from his country, according to Al Jazeera, the Arab
news network.

Referring to about 100,000 Armenians working illegally in Turkey out
of a total of 170,000 living there, Erdogan reportedly said:

"Only 70,000 of them are Turkish citizens, but we are tolerating the
remaining 100,000. If necessary, I may have to tell these 100,000 to
go back to their country because they are not my citizens. I don’t
have to keep them in my country."

Forced to leave their impoverished country to earn a living, thousands
of Armenians, mostly women, have settled in Turkey, mainly in Istanbul,
according to Al Jazeera.

Many came after an earthquake in their homeland in 1988 and work
illegally, mainly in manual jobs or as nannies and cleaning ladies,
sending remittances home.

"So what will I do tomorrow?" Al Jazeera quotes Erdogan as saying. "If
necessary, I will tell them ‘come on, back to your country’."

Erdogan blamed the genocide resolutions on the influential Armenian
diaspora in the U.S. and Western Europe, according to Al Jazeera.

"We are extending our hand, but if our counterparts clench their hand
into a fist, there will be nothing we can do," he said.

Turkey displays military in Ankara (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)The U.S.

House Foreign Affairs Committee vote on the resolution last week
passed by only one vote (23-22).

U.S. HR 252 states in part:

"The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman
Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly
2,000,000 Armenians…1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed
and 14,500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes."

Turkey recalled its ambassador to the U.S. shortly after the resolution
was passed.

Shortly afterward, the Swedish Parliament passed a similar resolution
and received from Turkey a similar response.

Turkey recalled its ambassador and canceled an upcoming summit between
the countries.

"We strongly condemn this resolution, which is made for political
calculations," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said about the
Swedish resolution, according to Reuters.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister has warned the Obama administration to
impede the resolution or "the picture ahead will not be a positive
one," according to AFP.

Foreign Minister Davutoglu said the Obama administration had not
put sufficient weight behind efforts to block the vote and called on
Washington to do more to prevent the measure from now going to the
full House.

He complained of a lack of ‘strategic vision’ in Washington, adding
that the issue was a matter of ‘honor’ for his country.

According to Reuters, Turkey has signaled that its ambassador to
the United States will not return until the fate of the non-binding
congressional resolution is clear.

The genocide resolution could go forward toward full congressional
approval despite opposition from the Obama administration, according
to Desmond Butler of AP.

Butler wrote that Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon told
reporters there is no deal with Democratic congressional leaders to
block the resolution, which contradicts earlier claims by the State
Department.

"Congress is an independent body, and they are going to do what they
decide to do," Gordon is reported to have said, ahead of a speech at
the Brookings Institution.

Many analysts have pointed out that passage of the resolution comes at
a time the US is seeking Turkey’s support for sanctions against Iran.

Recent reports suggest Turkey may be ambivalent about supporting
those sanctions.

According to an article which appeared today on World Bulletin.net,
Turkey’s prime minister has dismissed reports claiming that Iran
wants to acquire nuclear weapons.

Erdogan said it was not right to manipulate the issue as if "Iran
desired to possess nuclear weapons," according to World Bulletin.net.

"These are all rumors. Because, nothing like that has happened. So,
it is meaningless to discuss it," Erdogan is quoted as saying.

Turkey’s Prime Minister & Saudi King recently (AP Photo/Saudi
Press)Perhaps worse news, Turkey’s quest for European Union membership
may have lost momentum.

Long viewed as a carrot to ensure Turkey’s malleability, EU membership
is no longer viewed in that country as the prize it once was, according
to some analysts.

While official Turkish policy is still to seek EU membership, one
analyst reports that many of the AK (ruling party) younger leaders
are skeptical.

"There was a time when Turkey saw membership in Europe as an
affirmation of its modernization," George Friedman of Stratfor,
a global intelligence website, said recently.

"I don’t think the Turks look at Europe that way any longer . The
older generation may. Some of the secularists may want membership in
Europe because it would guarantee some of their secular values and
institutions. But, on the whole, Europe, right now, is simply not
a very attractive place to go, and given the fact that they are not
likely to let the Turks in anyway, I think there is a growing mutual
understanding that Europe isn’t something they need to join."

Young leaders in Turkey argue that the strength of their economy and
their country’s rising international status will enable it to stand
tall in an area of the world it once dominated as the Ottoman Empire,
according to Colin Chapman, also from Strafor.

"This is not an optical illusion," George Friedman added. "Turkey is
standing taller. Turkey is a substantial power in the region. Compared
to EU members in the region, such as Greece, there is no comparison.

"Frankly, the old relationship between Turkey and Europe is gone
on both sides, and Turkey, I would suspect, is well done with it,"
Friedman said.

Eighteen NY and NJ legislators co-sponsored the U.S. House resolution,
including NY Reps Charles Rangel and Anthony Weiner.

A similar resolution is pending in the Senate, where NY Senator
Charles Schumer is a co-sponsor.

NY Congressman, Michael McMahon (D-SI/Bklyn), a member of the House
committee, opposed the resolution.

"If HR 252 is passed and Turkey decides to close its border to our
troops in Iraq or remove its $100 million investment in Afghanistan,
our armed forces will be forced to take longer, more dangerous routes
to and from Iraq, exposing them to a greater possibility of attack
and longer deployments," Rep. McMahon stated.

Turkey is the critical passageway for our troops to Iraq, he said,
shortening travel time and reducing the risk of an IED attack.

"Furthermore, as a critical Muslim NATO ally and partner in
Afghanistan, we rely on Turkey to protect our troops as part of the
broader Afghan reconstruction effort."

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush I, Bill Clinton and
George Bush II have all opposed a similar resolution based on similar
arguments, according to Rep. McMahon, while Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates, under both the Bush and Obama Administrations, has
warned against the passage of the resolution.

"If Turkey decides to withdraw its support for the US mission in Iraq
and Afghanistan, I know that my visits to Walter Reed and Arlington
will only increase," Rep McMahon stated. "Even with my profound
sympathy for the families of those who perished during the Ottoman
Empire, I cannot responsibly risk such a possibility."

Rep. McMahon represents the 13th Congressional District, which includes
all of Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. He faces re-election
in November.

Michael Allegretti, a possible GOP opponent, announced he favored
the resolution.

"I urge the members of the House Foreign Relations to stand-up and
recognize the genocide which took place between 1915-1923," Mr.

Allegretti stated."It is unspeakable that one and a half million
Armenians lost their lives in an effort to erase them from their
homeland. Passage of this resolution would be a positive step for
the region."

Rep. McMahon called Allegretti’s position "reckless, irresponsible
and a serious threat to U.S. national security and the safety of our
Armed Forces."

———————————– ———————————————

The following sources were used to prepare this article:

Associated Press
nfX83Qg20idVFtW3FcluMFJNncgD9EGFMI80

Al Jazeera
english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/03/ 2010317142257170804.html

World Bulletin

Reuters

Str afor

-NY-Military-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m3d18-House-g enocide-resolution-may-have-consequences

ARMENIAN-SLOVAK BUSINESS FORUM OPENS IN YEREVAN

Aysor
March 18 2010
Armenia

Armenian-Slovak Business Forum was launched today in Armenian capital
city of Yerevan.

"Our businessmen are interested in establishing and developing the
bilateral cooperation between the two countries," said Slovak Foreign
Minister Miroslav Lajcak, who is on a visit to Armenia.

"We think we can realize investment projects in Armenia," he said
adding that hopes the forum will contribute to strengthening of
bilateral relations in sphere of economy.

According to Miroslav Lajcak, the Slovak delegation to Armenia
involves 20 businessmen, who arrived in Armenia to participate in
the Armenian-Slovak Business Forum.

ERDOGAN’S WORDS RAKE OVER GENOCIDE MEMORIES: RA PREMIER

news.am
March 17 2010
Armenia

Threats voiced by Turkish Premier Erdogan about deportation of
Armenians from Turkey rake over memories of Armenian Genocide committed
in 1915, RA Premier Tigran Sargsyan said from the RA National Assembly
rostrum on March 17.

According to him, such statements make the international recognition
of Genocide even more urgent both by world community and Ankara,
meanwhile not assisting Armenia-Turkey reconciliation.

Sargsyan deems the issues on illegal migration should have the
diplomatic solution and states should smooth relations to achieve
that. He also noted that according to RA Government estimates, the
number of Armenian emigrants in Turkey is several-fold less than
Erdogan claims.

RA Premier stated, that Armenia adheres to its initial stance on
Armenia-Turkey relations, which boosts Armenia’s and its authorities’
international image. As to Turkish leadership, Ankara will not arrive
at relations’ normalization making such statements and estimates, if
it really wants to. "We do not wish to change our policy on this matter
after regular statement by Turkish authorities," Sargsyan emphasized.

RA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan also delivered a speech, maintaining that
Armenian authorities unlike Turkish respect their signature.

BABAHAN: WE ARE ALL ENVER
Ergun Babahan

babahan-we-are-all-enver/
Tue, Mar 16 2010

The Turkish version of the article below by Ergun Babahan appeared
in STAR Gazete on March 14.

Following the approval of the House Foreign Affairs Committee of the
U.S. Congress, the Swedish Parliament also adopted a resolution that
recognizes the Armenian Genocide.

These are real decisions, not feigned acts.

The Turkish government was furious. And immediately recalled its
ambassadors in Washington and Stockholm. Visits to the U.S. and Sweden
were cancelled.

Apparently this reaction targets those countries that have passed the
resolution recently, because there is no reaction against countries
that have passed similar resolutions in the past.

Visits to such countries are not being cancelled and the ambassadors
to those countries are on duty.

Obviously, the top echelons of the state have decided to recall their
ambassadors or visit countries that pass resolutions regarding the
Armenian Genocide after 2010.

Because Enver Pasha may have been a putschist, may have finished
the empire, may have condemned 90,000 youth to death by freezing,
but he would not have commit genocide.

Amongst us, we can criticize the Unionists and their policies, but we
are firm believers in the proverb "the arm may be broken but remains
inside the sleeve."

See, even TUSIAD (the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s
Association) has become etatist.

Shame on you. Defend the most liberal policies and then surrender to
a chauvinist policy.

Then you, too, are secret Unionists; after all, the role of the
Uninonists in the formation of your capital was undeniable.

Had they not crushed and butchered the minorities, your grandparents
would not have been able to usurp their goods and form their capital.

In short, you are owning up your history.

And anyway, the Americans killed the Indians, didn’t they? Well,
they acknowledge this and teach it in their schools, but who cares?

Armenian babies were deported for having joined the Russians and
declared war on the Ottomans. And their mothers were subjected to
forced immigration because they procured arms for the babies.

The events of Sept. 6-7, 1955 were in fact concocted by the Greeks
to humiliate Turkey in the eyes of the world.

The Ottoman Dynasty may have been traitors, they may have been
in league with the enemy, but their administration would not have
commited genocide.

I had written in the Sabah newspaper previously.

Had Hitler been Turkish, we would have denied the Holocaust,
too. (Of course, there are some conservative newspapers that deny
the Holocaust.)

Yes, we started off from Central Asia and marched into the midst of
Europe by handing out sweets to babies, food to mothers, and jobs
to husbands. And we had to return because we ran out of sweets and
bread at the gates of Vienna. Otherwise our history is spick-and-span
without a blemish.

We do concede that an army whose battle cry is "Allah, Allah" may have
planned to bomb mosques, but we do not concede the truth of that same
army annihilating its own citizens.

Dersim is a reality, but the Armenian Genocide is a lie.

Mr. prime minister, how about you also make public the verdicts of
the deportations?

Although we cannot explain how the number of Armenians varied between
300,000 and 1.5 million, and how those had been living on these
lands for over a thousand years decreased to the level of some tens
of thousands, so be it.

In my opinion, everyone should prepare placards that read "We are
all Enver, we are all Unionists" and take to the streets on April 24.

The previous editor-in-chief of the Hurriyet newspaper was very
influential and successful in the "flag demonstrations." He could
successfully undertake "We are all Envers" demonstrations too.

They may even supply a placard for every five coupons.

Come on nationalists, to the streets…