Author: Zaminian Bedik

UCLA AEF CHAIR IN MODERN ARMENIAN HISTORY
SOUREN AND VERKIN PAPAZIAN FUND
Contact: Prof. Richard Hovannisian
Tel: 310-825-3375
Email: [email protected]

1915-1995
95th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Schedule of Events: April 13-18, 2010
April 13, 2 p.m. UCLA History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche Hall, UCLA

"Smyrna/Izmir, 1914-1916: ‘A Special Case’ during the Armenian Genocide"
Matthias Bjørnlund, Archival Historian, Copenhagen

April 15, 2 p.m. UCLA History Conference Room, 6275 Bunche Hall, UCLA

"Confiscation and Colonization:
The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property"
Uður Ümit Üngör, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for War Studies,
University College Dublin

Sunday, April 18, 3:00-6:00 p.m.

95th Anniversary Symposium. In Cooperation with Glendale Public Library
Glendale Library Auditorium, 222 E. Harvard Street

"Looking Backward, Moving Forward"
Richard G. Hovannisian, AEF Chair in Modern Armenian History, UCLA

"Scandinavia and the Armenian Genocide:
Prelude, Eyewitnesses, Aftermath"
Matthias Bjørnlund, Archival Historian, Copenhagen

"What Could Germans in the Third Reich
Know about the Armenian Genocide?"
Wolf Gruner, Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies, USC

"Reign of Terror: Young Turk Mass Violence in Context, 1913-1938"
Ugur Ümit Üngör, Centre for War Studies of University College
Dublin

No Admission Charge. Limited Seating. Further information: Richard
Hovannisian: [email protected]
or Elizabeth Grigorian: [email protected]

Israel gets ready to strike at Iran’s nuclear sites – media

MOSCOW, March 29 (RIA Novosti)

Israeli air force have practiced simulated strikes at Iran’s nuclear
facilities using airspace of at least two unidentified Arab countries,
a newspaper published in east Jerusalem reported.

According to Al Manar paper, several Israeli combat jets carried out
in late February bombing drills "targeting" known Iranian nuclear
sites "in two Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, which are close
territorially with the Islamic republic and cooperate with Israel on
this issue."

Al Manar said Israel had received the permission to use the airspace
from the top leadership of these countries and Washington "gave a
blessing" to Tel Aviv to conduct these exercises.

Despite broad international efforts to persuade Tehran to halt its
uranium enrichment, both the United States and Israel have not ruled
out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the dispute over
Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran, which is currently under three sets of UN sanctions for refusing
to halt uranium enrichment, insists it needs nuclear technology to
generate electricity, while Western powers suspect it of pursuing an
atomic weapons program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently called for the
international community to impose a new set of ‘crippling’ sanctions
on Iran to make the Islamic republic scrap its controversial nuclear
program.

Anna Turay: Erdogan’s statement awakened conscience of Armenian
community in Turkey

27.03.2010 13:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
statement on possible exile of illegal Armenian migrant from Turkey
upset the Armenian community of Istanbul, said Anna Turay, one of the
founders of Istanbul-based Agos bilingual newspaper.

`Look, there are 170,000 Armenians in my country – 70,000 of them are
my citizens, but we are [tolerating] 100,000 of them [illegally] in
our country. So, what will we do tomorrow? If it is necessary, I will
tell them, `Come on, back to your country.’ I will do it. Why? They
are not my citizens. I am not obliged to keep them in my country. I
mean these are [defenders of the Armenian claims of genocide]. Their
attitude is negatively affecting our sincere attitude, and they are
not aware of it,’ Erdogan said in an interview with the BBC.

`This statement awakened conscience. We suddenly came to realize that
Armenian migrants live in poor conditions and their children have no
possibility to get education,’ she told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
`As a reaction to the Prime Minister’s statement Turkish journalists
turned their eyes on Armenian migrants.’

`Armenians in Istanbul are not aware of the problems of those newly
arrived. Unfortunately, the Armenian community is not consolidated.
Besides, locals and newcomers fail to establish contacts due to
psychological differences,’ she said.

Kocharyan had an 8,000% income"

/25/bagratyan
07:33 pm | March 25, 2010 | Politics

The economic crisis was deeper in Armenia due to Robert Kocharyan’s
construction of "elite" buildings," said former RA Prime Minister
Hrant Bagratyan. He directly accused Robert Kocharyan. "I am accusing
that person and not only him, but the government, even international
financial organizations. How were you permitting the 3 billion dollar
construction of elite buildings in central Yerevan when there was no
demand for that? That 3 billion froze in construction," said Hrant
Bagratyan, adding: "First, where did Kocharyan get all that money
from? But that’s not even the issue. If that money was theirs or they
got a loan from the bank, it is a public resource that was frozen in
construction. There is nobody to buy it and the 3 billion doesn’t
serve the economic development."

According to Bagratyan, Robert Kocharyan’s statements don’t correspond
to reality. "We don’t see construction as a mobilizing force during
his term. Even during the best years, construction was only 35-40
percent more than the dark years, while physical volumes increased 8
fold."

Touching upon Kocharyan’s last words on construction, Bagratyan took
note that "he suffers because 12,000 apartments haven’t been sold."

"Kocharyan is indulged in that business not as president, but a
contractor. People were paying 1,000-1,500 dollars for a square meter
and a constructed square meter started from 3,000 to 5,000 dollars.
The buildings are 12-story buildings, 5,000 times 12 is 60,000
dollars. Income was worth 8,000 percent and by selling only 15% of the
constructed buildings, people got their money worth. The rest of the
apartments need to be sold, but of course, there is a problem with
sales," said the economist.

Hrant Bagratyan went into details and said that the maximum threshold
of construction during Kocharyan’s term was 1,800-2,500 houses with a
total surface area of 512,000 square meters. "Nearly 350,000 square
meters were built in 1993, which was the most heated year of the war.
They were not elite apartments in the center of the city, but
construction in Gyumri, Spitak and more, not counting the enormous
dormitories for the military in Karabakh."

Bagratyan mentioned that the economy is weaker than it was in 1993
which today’s government views as the years of cold and darkness.
"There was industry back then and the country was producing packages.
Even if it was more or less than during the Soviet era, but there was
production."

As far as Kocharyan’s view that the relativity of foreign deficit and
the GDP has reduced from 46% to 13% is concerned, Hrant Bagratyan said
that the dollar was devaluated two times during those years and that
46 would become 23, even if he didn’t do anything.

Hrant Bagratyan also touched upon the dollar-dram relativity and
predicted the continuation of the dram devaluation.

No Grounds for Extraordinary Elections, Says Ruling Republican Party
of Armenia

13:53 – 26.03.10

Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) press secretary Eduard Sharmazanov,
asked about the possibility of holding extraordinary elections and the
noticeable pre-election moods, said: `There’s an unwritten rule: the
day following elections people are [already] preparing for the next
elections.’

The HHK spokesperson said he doesn’t criticize those who are calling
for extraordinary elections, noting that each political party chooses
its fight and strategy.

`I can’t influence the rights or expressed thoughts of other parties,’
he said.

Sharmazanov and his party don’ see grounds for holding extraordinary
elections in Armenia.

Tert.am

U.S. CONGRESSMEN PUSH FOR PARITY IN MILITARY ASSISTANCE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.03.2010 13:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) along with
27 members of Congress, sent the following letter Monday to the
chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee
on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs,
Asbarez.com reported.

In preparing the Fiscal Year 2011 State-Foreign Operations and Related
Programs Appropriations bill, the lawmakers are requesting that the
subcommittee support Congress’s funding request for U.S. assistance
to Armenia and other related provisions. Additionally in the request,
Pallone continues to push for parity in military assistance between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, opening contacts between the U.S. and Nagorno
Karabakh, as well as increasing funding for Nagorno Karabakh for
humanitarian and developmental aid. Funding in the FY 2010 Omnibus
bill provided $41 million for Armenia and $8 million Nagorno Karabakh.

The letter reads:

"Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger:

As you prepare the Fiscal Year 2011 State-Foreign Operations and
Related Programs Appropriations bill, we write in strong support
of U.S. assistance to Armenia and other aid related provisions
that contribute to peace and stability in the Caucasus region. We
respectfully request that you consider the following requests listed
in priority order:

Economic Assistance to Armenia

The people of Armenia continue to face the devastating impact of Turkey
and Azerbaijan’s dual blockades, illegal actions that according to
World Bank estimates from several years ago cost Armenia roughly
$720 million annually. As Armenia continues to display commitment
to ending the blockade and Turkey continues to include preconditions
that threaten the integrity of current negotiations, the U.S. should
continue its important support of Armenia.

Until the recent world economic crisis, Armenia regularly registered
double-digit growth and has been consistently cited as among the
most free economies in the region by the Wall Street Journal and
the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom. Our assistance
programs have played a vital role in promoting this progress, as
well as in the development of Armenia’s democratic institutions,
an effort that has seen substantial advancement.

We respectfully request that you include language within the Assistance
for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia Account ensuring that not less
than $70 million is appropriated for Armenia in Fiscal Year 2011.

Assistance to Nagorno Karabakh

The U.S. assistance program to Nagorno Karabakh, has played a critical
role in meeting needs among the population. Assistance should be
directed by Congress and the Administration, to continue work that
supports both humanitarian and development priorities. We respectfully
request language directing USAID to spend $10 million in Fiscal Year
2011 for humanitarian and development programs in Nagorno Karabakh.

Enhancing Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act

Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act continues to stand as a powerful
provision of U.S. law in principled opposition to Azerbaijan’s
blockade and other aggressive uses of force against Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh.

As recently as November 21, 2009, President Aliyev said that
"Azerbaijan is spending billions on buying new weapons, hardware,
[and] strengthening its position at the line of contact." To make
the threat explicit he added, "We have the full right to liberate our
land by military means." The statement came just one day before a face
to face meeting between President Aliyev and President Sarkisian to
continue ongoing peace talks. The statement is one of many over the
years by President Aliyev designed to disrupt the ongoing OSCE peace
process and which threatens regional stability.

As you know, the Fiscal Year 2002 Foreign Operations Appropriations
Act created a broad waiver authority that opened the door to military
assistance to Azerbaijan. In light of Azerbaijan’s behavior, and as a
contribution to the cause of a lasting and equitable negotiated peace,
we urge you to narrow this presidential waiver as follows:

The President may waive section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act if he
determines and certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that to
do so-

(A) the assistance is necessary to support United States efforts
to counter international terrorism, or to support the operational
readiness of United States Armed Forces or coalition partners to
counter international terrorism;

(B) the assistance will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to
negotiate a peaceful settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan or be
used for offensive purposes against Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh; and

(C) in the last fiscal year, Azerbaijan has not taken hostile action,
either through military force or incitement, including but not limited
to threatening pronouncements by government officials, toward Armenia
or Nagorno Karabakh and has demonstrated its commitment to a lasting
peace with Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Assuming all conditions of this new waiver authority can be met,
and military assistance is provided to Azerbaijan, we urge you to
uphold the Committee’s long-standing tradition of maintaining parity
in funding between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Military Assistance to Armenia

The U.S.-Armenia military relationship continues to expand in scope and
depth, building upon Armenia’s cooperation in anti-terrorism efforts
and its deployment of forces to both Iraq and Kosovo. Armenia also
recently approved a military deployment to Afghanistan in support of
the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission. Armenia has
entered into a NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) and has
worked closely with both NATO and the Defense Department on a range
of bilateral and multilateral agreements, joint training programs,
and military exercises. Following the Russian-Georgian conflict,
Armenia was the first country to host a NATO exercise in the South
Caucasus which included more than 1,000 servicemen from 18 nations.

Past U.S. military aid has played a vital role in modernizing
Armenia’s armed forces, strengthening the principle of civilian
control, promoting increased NATO interoperability, and supporting
the growth of Armenia’s peacekeeping capabilities.

With these priorities in mind, we respectfully request that you include
$4 million in FMF and $1 million in IMET funding for Armenia in Fiscal
Year 2011.

Removing restrictions on contacts and communication with Nagorno
Karabakh

The time has come for ending restrictions on travel, contacts, and the
free exchange of ideas between U.S. officials and the democratically
elected leaders of Nagorno Karabakh. These outdated restrictions stand
in the way of greater mutual understanding, hinder direct oversight of
U.S. assistance programs, limits cooperation on regional priorities,
such as public health and anti-narcotics efforts, undermine our
effectiveness in promoting democracy, and ultimately place artificial
limits on our diplomatic and civil society efforts to bring about a
fair and durable peace.

We respectfully request that that the following report language be
included in the bill.

"In the interest of promoting mutual understanding, regional
cooperation, and a fair and lasting peace, the Committee directs the
Department of State, to remove any official or unofficial restrictions
on U.S.-Nagorno Karabakh travel, visitations, discussions, meetings,
contacts, consultations, exchange programs, or other governmental or
civil society communication, cooperation, or interaction.

Furthermore, in order that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict come to
a peaceful resolution through the OSCE Minsk Process it is vitally
important that representatives from Nagorno Karabakh be included in
the negotiations. Although, Nagorno Karabakh was formerly officially
included they have not since had a part in the ongoing international
negotiations aimed at determining their future. We request that the
Committee include report language that recognizes the importance of
including representatives of Nagorno Karabakh in the ongoing Minsk
Process.

Confidence Building Measures

As in years past, the Subcommittee has also provided funding for
confidence-building measures to help facilitate a peaceful resolution
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In order to facilitate peace,
we recommend that these funds continue to be made available for
increased cooperation among Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh. In
particular, we respectfully request language urging Azerbaijan to
support confidence-building measures that facilitate interaction
among the parties, in order to address regional security, resource
management, infrastructure, development and people to people programs.

Thank you for your leadership on the Appropriations Subcommittee on
State-Foreign Operations and Related Programs. We are grateful for
your role in strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and
Armenia and on all the issues we have raised. We appreciate your
consideration of these requests."

IN FEBRUARY 2010 INTERNATIONAL GROSS RESERVES OF ARMENIA REDUCED BY $154.8 MILLION MAKING $1848.6 MILLION

ARKA
March 24, 2010

YEREVAN, March 24. /ARKA/. In February 2010 international gross
reserves of Armenia were $1848.6 million reduced by $154.8 million
or 7.7% compared with December 2009.

At the end of February 2010 assets in foreign currency were $1728.4
million reduced by $150.3 million or 8% compared with December 2009.

At the end of February 2010 SDR of IMF were $120.2 million versus
$124.7 million at the end of December 2009.

JOINT DECLARATION BY PATRIARCH KIRILL OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA AND SUPREME PATRIARCH AND CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II OF ALL ARMENIANS

Interfax
March 23 2010
Russia

We thank our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who has given us the
opportunity to meet at the First Capital City of Holy Etchmiadzin in
the Lenten period from March 16 to 18, 2010, when the whole Christendom
is preparing for the holy feast of Easter.

We venerated the relics of St. Gregory the Enlightener
Equal-to-the-Apostles who is the patron saint of the Armenian
Apostolic Church and who is also venerated as saint by the Russian
Orthodox Church. We honoured the memory of Russian soldiers who
fell in fighting on distant approaches to Holy Etchmiadzin in 1827,
defending Christian faith and the shrines of the Armenian Apostolic
Church. We commemorated the victims of the 1915-1923 Armenian Genocide.

We visited the Russian Orthodox Parish of the Protecting Veil of
the Most Holy Virgin in Yerevan. Patriarch Kirill and the Russian
Orthodox delegation attended a service at St. George the Enlightener
Cathedral in Yerevan, which was built to mark the 1700th anniversary
of Armenia’s conversion to Christianity. Catholicos Karekin II has
awarded Patriarch Kirill the Order of St. Gregory the Enlightener, the
highest decoration of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In the presence of
Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, Patriarch Kirill has laid the
foundation stone of a Russian Orthodox Church to be built in Yerevan
and dedicated to the Elevation of the Lord’s Honourable and Life-giving
Cross. The two primates visited the Yerevan State University and gave
their patriarchal blessings to Armenian students, intellectuals and
public leaders. They presented there an Armenian version of Patriarch
Kirill’s two books entitled Freedom and Responsibility in Search for
Harmony and A Pastor’s Word. The Yerevan State University has granted
Patriarch Kirill the degree of doctor emeritus.

During our meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, we
discussed the development of church-state relations in Armenia and
the countries nourished spiritually by the Moscow Patriarchate. We
also spoke about the role of our Churches in public life today and
the activities carried out by the primates of the two Churches to
strengthen peace in the region. With interest we heard about the
established and developing allied relations between the Republic of
Armenia and the Russian Federation and about new plans for cooperation
in the Commonwealth of the Independent States.

We praise the Almighty who helps us to strengthen ties between our
two Churches and fraternal relations between their primates. We thank
God for the fact that in our two countries the number of parishes has
grown, new churches built, monasteries opened and beatified, church
shrines preserved reverently, church-state relations developed, the
number of church-affiliated youth, cultural, educational, social and
humanitarian structures and institutions grown.

We attach great importance to the work of church representations at
the patriarchal thrones of the two Churches as these representations
are called to promote contacts between them. The Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians has his representative to His Holiness
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in the person of the head of
the Armenian Apostolic diocese of Russia and Novo-Nakhichevan. The
construction of a new Russian church in Yerevan creates conditions
for His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia to send his
representative to the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians.

Our two Churches will continue bilateral dialogue on pastoral and
theological issues and maintain cooperation in the sphere of youth
education and formation. The Russian Orthodox and the Armenian
Apostolic Churches intend to help each other in training the clergy
capable of responding to the challenges of today’s world.

Among important spheres of cooperation between the two Churches
is social work including pastoral care of the military, service in
prisons, work in hospitals and charity and rehabilitation centers.

In the globalization situation, we urge our clergy to increase their
efforts for propagating Christian faith and values asserted on its
basis. In response to new religious trends growing in the world today,
we believe it necessary to take joint actions in preventing the harmful
and destructive activities of various sects and pseudo-religious
organizations.

Inter-Christian and interreligious relations are important for both
the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. It is
only through the common efforts of all the traditional religions in
the world that we can defend the value of faith for people’s private
and public life. We re-affirm out readiness to develop the work of the
Inter-confessional Advisory Committee of the CIS and Baltic Countries
and the CIS Interreligious Council and to continue trilateral and
quadrilateral meetings of the religious leaders in the region in
pursuit of peace and well-being in the Caucasus. Patriarch Kirill has
conveyed to Catholicos Karekin II an invitation from Sheikh-ul-Islam
Allahshukur Pasha-zade, head of the Caucasus Moslem Board, and from
himself to take part in the Summit of Religious Leaders to take place
on April 26-27, 2010, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

We thank God for the great gift of friendship between our two Churches
and pray to Him that the fruits of this friendship may be manifested
in the life of our faithful and may bear witness to God’s boundless
love of all us.

CLINTON: WE CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST WE INHERIT, ALL WE CAN DO IS TRY TO HAVE A BETTER FUTURE

armradio.am
23.03.2010 15:53

I don’t think that anyone has forgotten anything, said US Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton in an interview with Vladimir Pozner of
Russia’s First Channel, while responding to a question by a viewer
on why President Obama has forgotten about his campaign promise to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and thus, support House Resolution 252.

"I don’t think someone forgot something. But what has happened that
is of great import is the work going on between Turkey and Armenia,"
she said.

The US State Secretary recalled that she had been in Zurich last fall
with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Armenia, Russia, France, other
countries to witness the signing of a set of protocols to normalize
relationships between Armenia and Turkey. "In those protocols, there
was an agreement between the two countries to establish a historical
commission that would look at all of the issues that are part of the
past," Secertary Clinton said.

"And I think that’s the right way to go, I think, to have the two
countries and the two peoples focusing on this themselves. I have said
many times we cannot change the past we inherit. All we can do is try
to have a better future," Clinton said, adding that the Turkey and
Armenia are currently working to create the commission of historians.

Turks of Sweden to protest against Armenian Genocide Resolution

21.03.2010 16:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turks of Sweden will hold a protest action in
Stockholm against the adoption of the resolution on the Armenian
Genocide by the Swedish Riksdag. According to CNN Turk, a protest
action will be organized by the Turkish associations of Sweden.

On March 11 the Swedish Parliament (131 votes in favor and 130
against) recognized the Armenian Genocide, as well as Genocides of
Assyrians, Chaldeans and Pontic Greeks in the Ottoman Empire.