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01/21/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) US Assistant Secretary of State Apologizes for Statement About Karabagh 2) ANCA Congratulates President Bush on His Second Inauguration 3) Turkey Begins Self Reflection over Armenia 4) Community Honors California State Senator Charles Poochigian 1) US Assistant Secretary of State Apologizes for Statement About Karabagh YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told the Armenian public on Friday that US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones has conveyed her apologies for a recent statement on Mountainous Karabagh. In an interview on Armenian Public Television, Oskanian said that Jones assured him that she was not referring to Mountainous Karabagh and its authorities when saying "criminal secessionists" must be removed from power. During a January 13 video conference with journalists in US Embassies in Moscow, Rome and Bratislava, Jones, in discussing US bi-lateral relations with Russia, called for increased engagement in resolving regional conflicts in the former Soviet Union, stating: "It is in Russia's interest for these areas, for Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, for these areas to be stable, for corruption to end there, for the criminal secessionists who rule there to be removed. It is not appropriate for this kind of instability and criminality to exist right in the middle of Europe." The statement caused a wave of protests in Armenia and in Armenian communities abroad. Azbarez has also learned that the US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans also appeared on TV in Armenia to clarify the US position on this matter. The exact nature, however, were not yet known as we were going to press. 2) ANCA Congratulates President Bush on His Second Inauguration Calls for stronger ties, constructive dialogue between White House and Armenian American Community WASHINGTON, DC--The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) congratulated President George W. Bush on his inauguration to his second term as President of the United States, wishing him well as he prepares to lead the nation for the coming four years. The ANCA, in a letter to the President, welcomed his second Administration as an opportunity to build strong ties between the White House and America's one and a half million citizens of Armenian heritage, to strengthen US-Armenia relations, constructively address outstanding issues of concern to the Armenian American community, and to reinforce the longstanding friendship of the American and Armenian peoples. During the course of the hard-fought and closely contested 2004 Presidential election campaign, Armenian Americans demonstrated an unprecedented level of activism - as voters, party activists, policy advocates, and financial contributors. Armenian American contributions to federal-level Republican candidates and committees totaled well over $1,500,000 during the 2004 election cycle, with more than $350,000 going directly to the Bush-Cheney re-election effort. An additional $430,000 was raised for the Republican National Committee; $140,000 for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and; $24,000 for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In addition to these figures, Armenian Americans contributed over $550,000 directly to the campaigns of Congressional Republicans. 3) Turkey Begins Self Reflection over Armenia ISTANBUL (AFP)--While an exhibition in Istanbul devoted to the daily life of the Armenians in Anatolia at the start of the 20th century is breaking attendance records, Turkish society is beginning to reflect on the Armenian question, erased from official history for the past 90 years. According to organizers, The exhibition "My Dear Brother," which opened on January 8, has attracted 6,000 visitors in 12 days--a record for local galleries. Through 500 postcards from the period, the exhibition seeks to portray, city by city and with supporting figures, how omnipresent Armenian communities were across the Ottoman territory and their role in society. "In Turkey, history has always been taught about one people--the Turks, as if there had never been any other people on the territory. When we speak of Armenians, they are not described as an integral group of society, but as a source of problems," explains exhibit director Osman Koker. "It's to fill this void, because I have an 11-year-old daughter who is getting this kind of education at school, that I have decided to publish a book and put on this exhibition," said Koker, a historian turned editor. "Without this realization, it will remain impossible to discuss the events of 1915," he said, referring to the Armenian massacres committed between 1915 and 1917 by the Ottoman armies. Convinced of Turkish society's growing curiosity about its past, Koker, nonetheless acknowledges that any change in mentality will take time. "A majority of the public, especially in the rural areas, consider the simple word 'Armenian' an insult," he said. Even if a handful of academics and amateur historians have attempted to re-examine Turkish history, it is not easy to break the deep taboo which has been deeply ingrained in the general consciousness by official history. "Until 1980, Turkish school textbooks quite simply didn't mention the Armenian massacre," explained Fabio Salomoni, author of a book on the Turkish education system. "With the first acknowledgments of 'genocide' by Western governments and the increasing number of attacks by Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a paragraph was then added excluding all Turkish responsibility for the deaths of Armenians, explaining [their deaths] in the context of a war..." he said. Even if Turkey acknowledges the massacres, it objects to the term 'genocide' and the figures of 1.2 to 1.3 million killed, and estimates the numbers to be between 250,000 to 300,000. Even though Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently opened an Armenian museum in Istanbul--just before the European summit in Brussels which gave a date to Ankara to start negotiations for joining the European Union--there is no question of overturning the existing orthodoxy concerning the Armenians. Several [Turkish] state-subsidized organizations continue to conduct research aimed at showing that if there was a genocide, it was more likely committed by Armenians against the Turks. "We can't talk of a major change at the level of the state," said Tarin Karakasli, of the Armenian newspaper Agos. Even though "an evolution has occurred amongst the elite intellectuals who are starting to openly discuss the subject and to encourage the publication of alternative books". Karakasli congratulated the EU and the role it has played in "breaking the Armenian taboo" by encouraging the democratization of Turkey--but criticized the position of France, which has sought to make acknowledgment of the genocide a precondition for joining the EU. "These pressures will achieve nothing, the question can only be resolved by internal dynamics," she said. "The Turkish population has still not fully acknowledged the problem; in this context, imposing a solution can only provoke hostile reactions," said Etyen Mahcupyan, an Armenian from Istanbul and writer for the daily newspaper Zaman. 4) Community Honors California State Senator Charles Poochigian On January 13, 2005, Armenian-American community leaders, activists and philanthropists from all over Southern California gathered at the Universal Sheraton to honor one of California's favorite Armenians sons, State Senator Charles Poochigian. Over 600 people gathered to thank the Senator for his years of service in two Governors' administrations and as a prominent and highly respected State Senator. Boardmembers of the Armenian National Committee of America--Western Region, ARF Central Committee members, as well as the Armenian Cultural Foundation and a number of other civic and philanthropic organizations turned out to support the Senator who is a candidate for state wide office. The evenings guest speakers were former Congressman Kuykendallband former Governor George Deukmejian. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.