Author: Zargarian Hambik

More than 40 young scientists of Armenia to take part in International
Youth Forum ‘Lomonosov-2010’

2010-04-09 15:47:00

Arminfo. The XVII International student, postgraduate and young
scientist conference "Lomonosov-2010" will take place in April 12th –
15th at Lomonosov Moscow State University.

The main aim of the conference is to develop student, postgraduate and
young scientist creative activity, to involve them into solving
problems of the day in science; to maintain and develop a uniform
scientific and educational space, to establish ties between future
colleagues. In 2010 the conference will consist of 33 sections and
more than 280 subsections which reflect the main fields of modern
science. More than 40 young scientists from Armenia will take part in
the conference this year.

ARMENIAN CHURCH IN ESKISEHIR TO BECOME CULTURAL CENTER

Today’s Zaman
April 8 2010
Turkey

An Armenian church located in the Sivrihisar district in the central
province of EskiÅ~_ehir is to be restored and turned into a cultural
center, Sivrihisar Mayor Fikret Arslan announced on Wednesday.

Established in 1881, Surp Yerortutyun is one of the biggest Armenian
churches in Anatolia. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Arslan
said that they are determined to restore the church to preserve the
town’s history.

Sivrihisar is home to many historic structures including the town’s
Ulu Cami (Great Mosque), Zaim Aga Konagı (an old mansion) and many
Ottoman houses as well as the Surp Yerortutyun church. "In addition
to the municipality’s routine maintenance, we are carrying out many
projects on our historic buildings in Sivrihisar. We’ve completed
the restoration of Zaim Aga Konagı and some Ottoman houses. We
are planning to restore the Ulu Cami, a historic clock tower and an
Armenian bath as well as the Armenian Surp Yerortutyun church. We
want to protect our history for new generations," noted Arslan.

Arslan said the old church, which has ornate decorations, has been
used as storage for approximately 20 years since being abandoned.

Stating that they have removed the reliefs on angels that were above
the church’s entrance to prevent them from being stolen, Arslan
pointed out that the church, which needs an urgent restoration, has
been attracting a growing number of vsitors. Arslan added that they
are working in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
on the church’s restoration.

EskiÅ~_ehir Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Ali Osman Gul said
the restoration will be launched soon, underlining that officials from
Ankara’s Middle East Technical University (ODTU) and Gazi University
will start environmental planning around the church.

"After we complete the restoration of the Armenian church, we will
convert it into a cultural center. We believe that many people will
come to EskiÅ~_ehir to visit the church, resulting in a positive
contribution to tourism in EskiÅ~_ehir," Gul added.

NATIONAL MINORITIES LIVING IN AZERBAIJAN WILL HARDLY WISH TO LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES PROTECTING THE RULING KURDISH CLAN OF ALIYEV

ArmInfo
2010-04-08 13:03:00

ArmInfo. In case of a new aggression against the Karabakh people,
the national minorities living in Azerbaijan will hardly wish to lay
down their lives protecting the ruling Kurdish clan of Aliyev, hero
of the Karabakh war, Major-General (Commandos) Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan
told journalists today.

"About a dozen of national minorities live in Azerbaijan: Avars,
Tats, Lezgins, Talyshs. All of them are currently put upon vexations
in the Azerbaijani Army because of their nationality, therefore,
they will hardly wish to wage a war for Aliyev and his company in
case of a new aggression by Azerbaijan", he said.

Commandos thinks that there is no separation to different ethnic
groups in the Armenian Army because of Armenia’s mononationality, and
small amount of Yezidis, Kurds and Ukrainians, living in Armenia, feel
rather comfortable in both everyday life and the Armenian Armed Forces.

SHOAH : A LA RECHERCHE DES JUSTES ARMENIENS
par Stephane

armenews
mercredi7 avril 2010

GENOCIDE

Info Collectif VAN – – La Fondation Internationale
Raoul Wallenberg () recueille des temoignages
d’actes heroiques d’Armeniens qui auraient sauve des Juifs et d’autres
personnes persecutees par la machine d’extermination nazie. Elle
est actuellement interessee par les histoires de nombreux Armeniens
de France qui ont sauve des juifs d’origine turque, qui habitaient
alors la France. Jusqu’a present, Yad Vashem a reconnu 10 Armeniens
comme Justes parmi les Nations (dont 4 appartiennent a la famille
Taschchyan). Il est bien possible que le nombre reel de sauveteurs
armeniens soit beaucoup plus eleve. Leurs histoires doivent donc
etre decouvertes.

La Fondation Internationale Raoul Wallenberg Recherche des Sauveteurs
Armeniens de Victimes de L’Holocauste

La Fondation Internationale Raoul Wallenberg ()
est une ONG qui siège a New York, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro,
Berlin et Jerusalem.

La principale mission de la Fondation est la recherche, la
documentation et la diffusion de l’heritage des sauveteurs des victimes
de l’Holocauste.

Dans ce cadre, nous recueillons des temoignages d’actes heroiques
d’Armeniens qui auraient sauve des Juifs et d’autres personnes
persecutees par la machine d’extermination nazie.

Par exemple, nous sommes actuellement interesses par les histoires
de sauvetage des Armeniens en France et a Vichy, pendant la seconde
guerre mondiale. Specifiquement, plusieurs de ces sauveteurs armeniens
ont ete meles au sauvetage de juifs d’origine turque, qui habitaient
alors la France.

Jusqu’a present, Yad Vashem a reconnu 10 Armeniens comme Justes parmi
les Nations (dont 4 appartiennent a la famille Taschchyan). Il est
bien possible que le nombre reel de sauveteurs armeniens soit beaucoup
plus eleve. Leurs histoires doivent donc etre decouvertes.

Afin de pouvoir avancer dans cette recherche, nous lancons cet appel au
public. Nous aimerions retrouver ces sauveteurs et les survivants qui
auraient ete sauves par eux. Evidemment et a cause du temps ecoule,
nous savons que nous devons nous contenter avec le temoignage des
parents toujours en vie.

Toute information a ce sujet peut-etre adressee a : Par email :
[email protected] (ref. : Sauveteurs armeniens) Par fax ; +1 212-535-6262
Par courier : IRWF 34 East 67 Street New York, NY 10065 USA

ARMENIA EXPECTS PRACTICAL STEPS FROM TURKEY

armradio.am
07.04.2010 17:39

On April 7 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian received Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s special envoy, Turkish Foreign
Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu.

The meeting covered issues related to the process of normalization
of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Minister Nalbandian reiterated Armenia’s willingness to move forward
and ratify and implement the Armenian Turkish protocols and said
Armenia expects practical steps from Turkey in that direction.

KYRGYZSTAN PROTESTERS STORM STATE MEDIA OFFICES

armradio.am
07.04.2010 17:45

Opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan have stormed the offices of
state radio and TV amid escalating unrest over rising fuel prices
and corruption.

It comes after at least five people were killed in clashes between
police and protesters outside President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s offices.

There are reports police fired live rounds after failing to disperse
people with tear gas and stun grenades.

President Bakiyev has declared a state of emergency in protest-hit
areas.

The unrest broke out in the provincial town of Talas on Tuesday and
spread to the capital, Bishkek and another town, Narya, on Wednesday.

In Bishkek, protesters attempted to storm the president’s office but
were held back by security forces, who reportedly fired live rounds
into the crowd.

State media and television went off air briefly after protesters
stormed their offices. It is not clear if they are still under state
control, the BBC reports.

TURKISH LEADERSHIP DOES ITS BEST FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO BE ON THE INCREASE
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net –
April 6, 2010 AMT

If Kazakhstan, Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan finally agree
on the partition of the Caspian Sea, Aliyev will lose his last trump.

Turkish diplomacy that has successfully maneuvered between East and
West for the last 70 years has now found itself in an unfavorable
situation, when neither blackmail nor flirtations help. But the reason
is not the persistence of the corrupt policy of denying the Armenian
Genocide or the threats of Western civilization. It turns out that
Turkey, yielding to the persuasions of Heydar Aliyev, who advanced
the slogan "One Nation, Two States", took on her own shoulders the
excessive burden of promoting the interests of Azerbaijan whenever
a defeat was obviously inevitable.

The fact that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was not invited to
the Global Summit on Nuclear Safety is rather a symbolic phenomenon,
no matter what interpretations are given in Baku on this regard. It
is apparent that neither Turkey nor Armenia, let alone Georgia are
nuclear powers, but they received an invitation from the President of
the United States, while Azerbaijan with its advertised hydrocarbon
reserves remained "on her own". Most apparently, neither will the
Nabucco project be realized, but even if it is, it won’t be the
way Aliyev dreams but the way the U.S. and Europe like it. In this
regard Turkey realistically measures what is happening in the region
and openly says she will not participate in the project, the more so
because there is no money yet. One can predict what Obama will offer
Erdogan and Sargsyan in exchange for ratification of the Protocols.

But the U.S. president, in our opinion, has left out of account one
important detail: Turkey has someplace to step back, Armenia has not.

Erdogan may refuse to support Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, but the President of Armenia cannot renounce the process
of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, because this
process is not in his hands. Neither is it possible to make Armenia
give up the Diaspora, not to mention Karabakh. But if the Turkish
Premier agrees to stand aside in the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict (and everything is coming to this, despite the tone of the
Azerbaijani media), the President of Armenia will hold the cards.

Baku now has only a little chance to reclaim the attention of the
international community, which, however, would be very dangerous for
the Aliyev clan. In order to achieve this, she "just" has to shift
from threats to business and try to launch a war. What will follow is
easy to guess: Turkey and Iran will immediately dissociate themselves
from their inadequate neighbor; the world powers will watch the
"valiant Azerbaijani army" suffering losses and will intervene only
when they see that continuation of the war is directed against their
own interests. In short, the situation of 1993-94 will repeat itself,
when promotion of the Karabakh army was stopped for it was already
"a squeezed orange". But it’s not only about the war or about the
attempts to start it. Another Sword of Damocles hanging over Baku
is the Caspian status. It is common knowledge that the oil which
the Aliyev clan is so persistently trying to pass off as their own,
in fact lies in the Turkmen and Iranian sites. And if Kazakhstan,
Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan finally agree on partition
of the Caspian Sea, Aliyev will then finally lose his last trump.

Meanwhile, Erdogan is once again trying to assure his "brothers"
that he will not leave them in trouble, Davutoglu is going to meet
the Armenian Diaspora, and the President of Armenia is preparing for
a visit to the USA. Everyone is busy with their own job. And it is
of absolutely no importance whether Barack Obama will utter the word
‘genocide’ in his annual April 24 address to the Armenian Americans.

It can change nothing, since the current Turkish leadership has done
its best to ensure that international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide is on the increase. This can be recorded in the archive of
Turkish diplomacy, which, like a sly fox, has been caught into a trap
with all paws.

TURKISH ENVOY HEADS BACK TO US

Hurriyet
April 6 2010
Turkey

‘The message we wanted to give has been understood … and we are
satisfied,’ says Ambassador Namık Tan at the airport. DHA photo

Turkish Ambassador to the United States Namık Tan returned to
Washington, D.C., on Tuesday following a month-long diplomatic row
that had brought him back to Ankara for consultations.

"Our message has been understood … It is time for me to go back,"
Tan told reporters at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport.

Just two weeks after presenting his credentials to U.S. President
Barack Obama on Feb. 25, Tan left Washington after the U.S. House
Committee on Foreign Affairs decided on March 4, by a margin of one
vote, to recognize the events of 1915 as "genocide."

The Armenian diaspora, which has a powerful lobby in the U.S., claims
that more than a million Armenians were systematically killed by
Ottomans in the early 20th century; Turkey firmly rejects allegations
of a genocide and asserts that both Turkish and Armenian communities
suffered during civil strife amid World War I. Ankara has suggested
that Turkey and Armenia establish a joint historical committee to
examine what happened rather than leaving the issue in the hands
of politicians.

"The message we wanted to give has been understood. We have received
satisfactory answers, too," Tan said in response to questions. "It
is time for me to go back."

"I will welcome Mr. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] in
Washington over the weekend," the ambassador added, referring to
the nuclear-security summit that Erdogan will attend with Foreign
Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and expressing his hope that "the positive
atmosphere will continue" during the event.

With Obama expected to host a meeting between Erdogan and
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, Tan will be working to set up a
comprehensive meeting rather than one in which the leaders are just
pulled aside during the main nuclear-summit talks.

The Armenian genocide allegations and the Turkey-Armenia reconciliation
process are likely to top the agenda. Erdogan is expected to urge
Obama and Sarkisian not to back the Armenian diaspora for the sake
of the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan.

The Turkish prime minister is also expected to advocate that a
comprehensive solution in the South Caucasus requires normalization
between Baku and Yerevan as well.

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
April 1 2010

Armenian lobby blocked Czech town’s twinning with Khojaly: MP

01-04-2010 06:39:48

The Armenian diaspora in the Czech Republic has prevented the
country’s town of Lidice twinning with Azerbaijan’s Khojaly, a
proposal made due to both towns’ being subjected to massacres, an
Azerbaijani lawmaker said Wednesday.

Gular Ahmadova said the initiative had been put forth by Elshan
Nazarov, a representative of the Azerbaijani community in the Czech
Republic. Azerbaijani MPs had been invited to the event he organized,
and Ahmadova took part in it. Initially, it was announced that a
street in Lidice would be named after Khojaly. However, the Armenian
lobby hampered the materialization of the initiative.

Ahmadova believes the lack of proper organization also contributed to
the failure of the initiative. She said the Azerbaijani community in
the Eastern European country did not make a concerted effort to reach
the goal, and no assistance was sought from the Azerbaijani government
and parliament members. Following the meeting, the lawmakers had
offered their assistance to Nazarov.

`I believe that in a year’s time we will achieve realization of this
initiative,’ Ahmadova added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war in the early 1990s. On February
25-26, 1992, Armenian forces attacked unarmed civilians in Khojaly
with the support of Russian troops. 613 people were brutally killed,
while 1,275 taken captive, 487 became handicapped and 150 remain
missing. Overall, the war claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced
about one million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of
Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory since then. The
ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been largely
fruitless so far.

Lidice, located just north-west of Prague, is built on the site of a
previous village of the same name which was completely destroyed by
German forces in the spring of 1942. On June 10, 1942, all 192 men
over 16 years of age from the village were murdered on the spot by the
Germans. The rest of the population was sent to Nazi concentration
camps.*

AZERBAIJANI ANALYST: ARMENIA UNDERSTANDS THAT IT’S THE END OF THE GAME

Today
6.html
April 2 2010
Azerbaijan

Interview with Azerbaijani political analyst Fikrat Sadigov.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is going to trip to the U.S. on April
12-13. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will also be on a visit
to the U.S. In your opinion, what can we expect from these visits
in terms of the Turkey-Armenia normalization and resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

The U.S. wants to play a priority role in normalizing Turkish-Armenian
relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. It initially tried to
dominate the issue of signing of the Zurich protocols, but did not
succeed because Turkey realized that it is fraught with serious
changes in the region. Turkey realizes that there are interests of
Azerbaijan and these issues must be addressed in a constructive way.

The Americans once again attempt to bring together viewpoints and move
the process of Armenian-Turkish normalization of the impasse. They also
see the intransigence of the Armenian side in terms of the updated
Madrid principles, in which Armenia is stubborn and does not want to
make any compromises.

So, I think that Obama is taking the next step to bring these positions
together and find a way out of this impasse.

In your opinion, what this visit may alter in the Turkey-U.S.

relations? Will Turkey send its ambassador back to the U.S.?

I have no doubt that Turkey will send its ambassador back to the United
States. In this context, return of the ambassador to his workplace in
some sense will not affect further development of relations between
the U.S. and Turkey. This is purely formal and procedural matter.

Another thing is that Erdogan’s visit to the United States, at first
glance, should serve to foster the US-Turkish relations. But this
will not happen, because today Turkey and the United States have
quite strained ties.

The fact is that there are so many antecedents. Once Turkey clearly
voiced its position on the Iraqi sisue not allowing the Americans
to use its territory. At the moment, Turkey is in a process of
rapprochement with Iran and Syria and is trying to establish closer
ties with Russia, with whom it had signed various energy deals.

So, Turkey is no longer obedient regional player for the U.S. Of
course, I would not say the relations between the countries will be
hostile, but that they have ceased to allied any more. The United
States must be blamed for this above all.

U.S. President Barack Obama did not uttered the word "genocide"
during his last year’s speech prior to April 24. Do you think Obama
is going to use this world this year?

I think he will not utter this word this year, too, because Obama,
as a head of a powerful nation like the U.S., does not need to do this.

He realistically assess the situation. Also, the U.S. administration
opposed adoption of the "genocide" resolution by the U.S. House
Committee on Foreign Affairs from the very beginning. Hillary Clinton
also opposed the adoption of such resolution.

I think Obama has enough savvy and pragmatism and will not say this
word. U.S. needs Turkey as it plays an important role in the region
and serves as a bridge for relations with the Middle East region and
the Muslim world, in general. And Obama is well aware of this.

Anyway, so far, Obama has behaved correctly as regards the recognition
of events of 1918 as "genocide". Even the resolution on "genocide"
was adopted in the Congress with a margin of one vote.

In your opinion, why Armenia is slow to express its attitude on the
updated version of the Madrid principles? To what extent is resolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by military ways is relevant today?

It is obvious that Armenia is confused. It is in an impasse, because
it is very difficult to constantly reject all of these Prague and
Madrid principles. Armenia is engaged in trading seeking to bargain
for further privileges and some priorities.

Armenia, realizing that sooner or later it will have to liberate the
occupied Azerbaijani lands, tries to bargain as much as possible and
solve the status of Nagorno-Karabakh right now.

Just recently, the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group visited Yerevan and
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. But the Armenian side did
not give clear reply on the updated Madrid principles, because it
understands that this is end of the game. This is loss of privileges,
the return of occupied territories and a need to continue negotiations
on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenians understands that no one
will ever recognize this entity as as an independent country including
Azerbaijan first and foremost.

Perhaps, Armenia also fears use of military force by Azerbaijan. So,
I think that the panic in the Armenian society and statements by
different opposition forces are aimed to prolong this conflict as
long as possible.

But, sooner or later, Armenia will have to respect the international
law and liberate the occupied territories and recognize Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity.