Month: November 2009

LEVON ARONIAN DEFEATED VUGAR GASHIMOV

news.am
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian won Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)
in the second round of World Blitz Chess Championship 2009 in
Moscow. Aronian had defeated another Azerbaijani chess player
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the first round of the tournament.

Aronian has scored 14.5 points and ranks 8th in the standings. Magnus
Carlsen (21 points), Viswanathan Anand (20) and Sergey Karjakin (18.5)
share 1-3 places.

Prize fund of the tournament is U.S. $ 25.000.

TURKEY, ARMENIA DISCUSS KARABAKH – RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Andrey Nesterenko Moscow thinks that the Karabakh conflict has come up
in talks between Ankara and Yerevan on normalizing bilateral relations,
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko said on Tuesday.

He was asked at a regular Foreign Ministry press briefing to comment on
Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and to what extent it was linked to the
settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey has its
autonomous significance in the sense that this is the normalization
of relations between two countries that have experienced difficult
times in their relations," Nesterenko said.

"As far as we know, questions about Nagorno-Karabakh have also been
raised during the talks process on the Yerevan-Ankara axis. It looks
as though the process is also taking into account this package of
issues. We shall hope that this will all be resolved in accordance
with existing decisions and through international organizations and
will meet the hopes of all the countries of the region."

RUSSIA SEEKS END TO KARABAKH CONFLICT – FOREIGN MINISTRY

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Andrey Nesterenko Russia is doing its utmost to bring about
a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Foreign Ministry
spokesman Andrey Nesterenko said on Tuesday.

He was asked at a regular Foreign Ministry press briefing to comment on
Russia’s mediatory role in settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We are doing everything that depends on us to help all parties resolve
the problem in the interests of the people living in Nagorno-Karabakh,"
Nesterenko said.

"This is not a new problem. It has many facets, it is sensitive and
fraught with emotions and recollections of tragic events. For our part,
through our involvement in the talks process we are doing everything
possible to achieve the results that everyone is waiting for."

BAKU OPPOSES UNSANCTIONED VISITS TO KARABAKH

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

Elkhan Polukhov Any foreigner who visits the occupied territories
without the permission of Baku is considered persona non grata,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov has said.

He was talking to APA news agency on Tuesday about the visit of
Turkish journalist Nagehan Alci to Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The name of any foreigner visiting the occupied territories without
Azerbaijan’s permission is included on the list of personae non
gratae," Polukhov said.

This policy applies to all countries, he continued. Azerbaijan always
expresses a resolute position on this issue and this position remains
unchanged.

"The Azerbaijani consulate in Istanbul contacted Axsam newspaper and
the manager of the newspaper, Ismayil Kicikgaya, said this is the
initiative of the journalist and has nothing to do with the newspaper.

After the newspaper expresses its official position, Azerbaijan may
reconsider cooperation with this newspaper," Polukhov said.

AZERBAIJAN DISTRIBUTES NAGORNO-KARABAKH RELATED DOCUMENT IN UN

news.az
Nov 18 2009
Azerbaijan

United Nations Azerbaijan has distributed another document in the
United Nations relating to Armenia`s military aggression against it.

The report, "Military aggression of the Republic of Armenia against
the Republic of Azerbaijan: reasons and results", has been distributed
in the UN General Assembly and Security Council.

The 30-page document features several chapters, including The
History of the Conflict, The Situation in the Occupied Territories
of Azerbaijan, Mediation Efforts and Azerbaijan`s Position on the
Conflict`s Settlement.

The report reiterates Azerbaijan`s "international legal norms-based"
position on the settlement of the conflict.

The report also recalls a memorandum issued by the Armenian permanent
representation to the UN in response to Azerbaijan`s documents.

"What is very interesting is that the Armenian memorandum did not
list relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and General
Assembly and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as well as the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office`s statements among documents related to the
conflict`s resolution," the report underlines.

"Although it is the United Nations` resolutions that are the most
crucial documents regarding the dispute`s settlement. The Azerbaijani
side expresses hope the UN member states will assure Armenia to
give up its aggressive policy, respect international legal norms and
demonstrate a sincere position in the peace talks to find a durable
solution to the conflict," the report stresses.

THREE GENERATIONS OF SERVICE
Adam Dickter

The Jewish Week
Nov 17 2009

Robert M. Morgenthau on Sunday tours the exhibit on the lives of
himself, his father and grandfather at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
– A Living Memorial To The Holocaust in Battery Park City. Photos
courtesy of the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial To The
Holocaust

It seems rare, even somewhat awkward for a museum to feature an exhibit
such as "The Morgenthaus: A Legacy of Service" that, in large part,
tells the story of its founding chairman.

"This is a unique occurrence, " conceded David Marwell, director of the
Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial To The Holocaust. "But the
family is unique. There is something special in the Morgenthau DNA."

For Marwell and his staff, a look at three generations of Morgenthau
men who gave back to their family’s adopted nation offered an
opportunity to weave together several important narratives.

"We had always wanted to do an exhibit on the Armenian genocide and
on Roosevelt and the Holocaust," says Marwell. "This was a chance to
do both at the same time."

Henry Morgenthau, Sr. was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire by President Woodrow Wilson and is credited with calling
attention to the Armenian persecution. Thirty years later his son,
Henry Morgenthau Jr., would play a similar role on behalf of Jews
as a close confidante of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who served as his
secretary of the Treasury during World War II. Robert Morgenthau is
a war hero, former federal prosecutor, 1962 gubernatorial candidate
and one of the longest-serving district attorneys in American history.

Marwell says the exhibit was not intended to coincide with Robert
Morgenthau’s departure from office, but had been planned before he
announced he would not seek a 10th term.

Among the artifacts in the exhibit are telegrams from Henry Sr. about
the Armenian plight, Henry Jr.’s report on "The Acquiescence of
This Government in the Murder of Jews," a tea set used by Elinor
Fatman Morgenthau to entertain Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert’s navy cap,
medals and DA phone logs and a note from Henry Jr. that was passed
to FDR during a meeting explaining that he was "a little shicker,"
Yiddish for drunk, after lunch at a friend’s home.

The president’s response on the same note calls on him to leave the
room "in due time" if he needs to vomit.

That exchange, says Karen S. Franklin, one of the exhibit curators,
challenges the perception that the Treasury secretary submerged his
Jewish heritage.

"Not only did he freely use that Yiddish expression," she says,
"but the president knew exactly what he was talking about."

ARMENIA’S STATE BUDGET REVISED

news.am
Nov 18 2009
Armenia

Additional capital injections into the Armenian state budget —
â~B¬100m – will cause the 2010 draft budget to be revised, RA Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated in Parliament.

The Government plans to revise the defense budget, the amount to
be provided to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), as well as the
funds intended as compensation for the population’s savings in the
USSR Savings Bank. The Premier said that Armenia’s defense budget
will be brought up to 131bn AMD, as much s this year.

RA Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan reported that the on-budget
expenditures will exceed 930bn AMD. According to him, Armenia will
receive additional fund, which are not yet included in the draft
budget. Davtyan pointed out that Armenia plans to receive 24bn AMD
under the U.S. Millennium Challenge program, as well as financial
injections from the European Union (EU).

The Minister also reported that Armenia’s national debt will constitute
46% of GDP next year — 30% of it being the Government’s foreign debt,
13% the Central Bank’s foreign debt, as well as the internal debt. The
Minister, however, is not concerned over the figures. Talking to
NEWS.am, Minister Davtyan said it is an acceptable figure, as, under
the Armenian law, the country’s national debt may constitute up to 60%
of GDP. The Minister stressed that Armenia always repays its debts
on schedule, and next year will not be an exception.

Davtyan stressed that the Government has started negotiations over
debt restructuring with a number of donor organizations. "So it is
quite realistic for us to serve our national debt. Moreover, some of
the credits, particularly the Russian loan, have been redistributed
among economic entities," the Minister said. Davtyan added that the
Government has taken many of the proposals made by the parliamentary
factions into account, particularly the ones concerning school
construction.

The revision of the on-budget expenditures caused Parliament members’
discontent. In private talks with journalists they said they had been
befooled – they were shown a draft, and all the key figures were
to be revised later. According to the draft, the defense budget as
112bn AMD – almost 20% less than in 2009. Later, however, RA Deputy
Minister of Finance Pavel Safaryan reported that the budget might be
"revised upward."

"THE LIONS" ARMENIAN CHAMPIONS OF GOALBALL

Aysor
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

Today in the "Dinamo" stadium finished the first Armenian Goalball
championship which was organized by the Armenian National Invalid’s
Sports Federation. In the final round the team of Abovyan got advantage
over Yerevan "Nika" team and became the winner of the Goalball first
championship.

In the third place were "Kaytsak" who won the "Eagles" with 17:10
points. The "Storm" got the 5th place and took victory over Gyumri
"Shirak" team with 15:7 points.

TURKISH STUDENT PUNISHED OVER GENOCIDE DENIAL IN FRANCE

Today’s Zaman
Nov 18 2009
Turkey

A bill making it a crime to deny the so-called Armenian genocide has
yet to be approved by the French Senate; however, French schools have
started to punish students who deny the alleged genocide.

Mustafa Dogan, a 13-year-old Turk, was suspended from a school in
Nancy after insisting that there was no Armenian genocide.

Most Armenians term as genocide a series of tragic events during a
war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire that played out in East
Anatolia. France has been determined to push Turkey to acknowledge
that the Armenian allegations are true. Turkey, in turn, has proposed
that a committee of historians, not politicians, should decide what
transpired in 1915.

The French Parliament recognized the so-called Armenian genocide in
2001, which resulted in short-lived tension between France and Turkey.

In 2006 the French National Assembly adopted a bill proposing a
punishment for anyone who denies the Armenian genocide. However,
it has been three years, and the bill has yet to be passed by the
Senate, let alone be enforced. Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is also
reluctant to see passage of the bill in parliament.

Dogan’s history teacher asked a question about the events of 1915 and
the "Armenian genocide" in a written exam. Having previously argued
with the teacher over the issue, the Turkish student became angry
and wrote, "Even if it did happen, they deserved it."

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Dogan said his teacher threatened to
give him a zero on the exam if he denied the genocide. "This was an
important exam and necessary to finish secondary school," Dogan said.

Following the exam, the school principal phoned Dogan’s father and
requested an immediate meeting, claiming that his son had violated
French law. In turn, father Mehmet Dogan said he had not seen any
law stipulating punishing those who deny the Armenian genocide. "I
now see where your son learns such things," the principal allegedly
told the father.

Following the quarrel, the school’s disciplinary committee suspended
Mustafa Dogan for two days and gave him an assignment in which he
was to recognize the validity of the genocide within two days. The
homework was to be titled "Armenian Genocide Committed by the Ottoman
Empire: a Crime against Humanity," and Dogan was asked to research
the historical context of the events, write a detailed list of how
many people were killed and how it was organized, meet with genocide
survivors, state that he recognizes the genocide and focus on militant
Turks who committed the genocide.

While researching the events, Dogan was to not look at Turkish Web
sites or consult Wikipedia. Dogan was to prepare the assignment and
present it in front of his class. However, the Turkish student refused
to do the assignment. "We gave you a chance to correct your mistake,
now recognize the genocide!" the history teacher reportedly told him.

While Dogan claimed that the bill in question had not yet been adopted,
the teacher reportedly did not listen.

All these events point to a troubling trend in French schools with
respect to the punishment for so-called Armenian genocide denial.

The European Union adopted a law on war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocide denial in January stating that only after a verdict has
been issued by an international court can such cases proceed to trial.

Mehmet Dogan accuses the school principal of racism. Noting that
the teacher is putting pressure on his 13-year-old son, a boy who
can easily be provoked due to his age, Dogan accused the teacher of
inciting his son’s reaction. Saying he also does not recognize the
genocide and supports his son in this, Mehmet Dogan said: "I wish he
hadn’t written ‘Even if [the genocide] did happen, they deserved it.’
This made them angry."

Officials from COJEP, a Strasbourg-based civil society organization
established by Turks, and Mehmet Dogan will meet with school
authorities on Friday to discuss Mustafa Dogan’s case.

Today’s Zaman was able to contact the principal of the Jacques
Marquette secondary school, Francis Vignola. When asked for his
opinion on the case, Vignola said he supported the sanctions placed
on Mustafa Dogan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NAME CHANGE REFERENDA TO BE HELD IN 2010 AS PART OF INITIATIVE

Today’s Zaman
Nov 18 2009
Turkey

Civil society organizations demanded that the name of Tunceli be
reverted back to Dersim. The city’s name was changed in 1937 in a
bid to remove all traces of the Dersim Rebellion. However, many civil
society organizations and city residents continued to call the city
Dersim despite the official change.

The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which began
a parliamentary discussion on the country’s democratization package
despite staunch opposition from the Republican People’s Party (CHP)
and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has decided to pursue the
initiative unilaterally.

The government finds support from the Democratic Society Party’s (DTP)
unreliable. Unable to take bold steps to determine the content of the
package due to resistance from the opposition parties, the government
will disclose the main features of the first stage of the package,
which will go into effect in 2010, in Parliament. One of the plans
in the first stage is to hold referenda on restoring the original
names of settlements whose names were changed during the single-party
period. There are currently 28 applications at the Interior Ministry
requesting referenda to change the names of settlements.

The ministry will evaluate each request and will demand a study into
whether the request reflects the will of the region. For example, a
request to restore an Armenian name to a settlement where there are
no Armenians will not be considered. If the request is compatible
with the demographics of the area, the Interior Ministry will hold
a referendum in that area and the name of the settlement will be
determined according to the results of the referendum.

The Interior Ministry, which circumscribed the scope of the initiative
due to opposition from the CHP and the MHP, has excluded items that
require constitutional amendments. The AK Party remains adamant about
pursuing the initiative despite tension in Parliament on Tuesday when
deputies convened to discuss the initiative.

According to the Interior Ministry’s plan, steps that can be taken
through administrative decisions will be implemented first. Issues
that require changes to bylaws and statutes will be put into effect
toward mid-2010 and items that require constitutional amendments will
be addressed last.

According to a study ordered by the ministry, close to 15,000
settlement names have been changed since the early years of the
republic. The ministry, which will compare studies conducted by
various universities on this topic with the data in state archives,
estimates that close to 100 settlement names could be changed in 2010.

With the government planning to focus on referenda to change
settlement names next year, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
state ministers will try to explain the democratic initiative package
to the public in 2010.

What does the package include?

The first stage of the democratic initiative package was also put
together by the Interior Ministry. According to information AK Party
executives gave Today’s Zaman, the government will be particularly
cautious about keeping all steps related to the initiative within
the framework of the first three articles of the Turkish Constitution.

Turkish will continue to be the official language of Turkey, however,
obstacles related to the use of other languages and dialects will be
removed. An amendment will be made to the Radio and Television Supreme
Council (RTUK) Law to remove the time restrictions on broadcasting
in Kurdish and private television and radio stations will be allowed
to broadcast in Kurdish. While public education in other languages
will not be allowed, obstacles to learning native languages will be
removed. Political parties will be allowed to campaign in different
languages and the Religious Affairs Directorate will release a
Kurdish translation of the Holy Quran soon. Steps will be taken
to ensure that people who fled Turkey after the Sept. 12, 1980,
military coup and were stripped of their Turkish citizenship will
have their citizenship restored. People with Kurdish roots who lost
their citizenship rights will be given the right to become Turkish
citizens upon the Interior Ministry’s offer, provided that they were
never involved in terrorism or armed demonstration.

There will not be a general amnesty for members of terrorist
organizations, but there will be abatements for prisoners as well
as those who are still in the mountains. The first goal is to disarm
those in the mountains. Amendments will be made to Article 216 of the
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) to expand the scope of freedom of expression,
and precautionary measures will be taken to prevent gaps that could
lead to hate crimes.

The Makhmur refugee camp in northern Iraq will be vacated with the
cooperation of the United Nations and the Iraqi government, and some
6,000 refugees will be returned to Turkey. Steps will be taken to
ensure that the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) does not
use the camp.