Month: February 2012

Today’s Zaman
Feb 5 2012

OSCE’s third co-chair France to be replaced by Turkey in minsk Group?

5 February 2012 / LAMÄ°YA ADÄ°LGIZI, Ä°STANBUL
After the French Senate passed a bill penalizing denying the 1915
killings of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks constituted
genocide, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu, speaking in an
interview broadcast by news channel CNN Türk on Jan. 28, denounced
France’s co-chairmanship of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s (OCSE) Minsk Group.
Although Azerbaijanis are in favor of replacing France as co-chair,
finding France biased, Armenians are satisfied with the French role as
a co-chair, claiming the country is non-aligned and impartial. Talking
to Sunday’s Zaman, Fazil Mustafa, an Azerbaijani deputy, says it
justifiable that Turkey calls into question the French
co-chairmanship, underlining that France must be replaced by Turkey.
Commenting on the French bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian
`genocide,’ Mustafa says that by passing the bill France revealed its
biased and one-sided position, and added that the argument put forward
by senior Turkish officials is reasonable. `France’s position as a
co-chair of the Minsk Group has been compromised. The country is not
neutral, a prerequisite for any mediator. France supports Armenia in
opposition to Azerbaijan, so the country must be made to give up its
position.’

Following the approval of the bill in France’s lower house, Turkish
President Abdullah Gül announced that France should withdraw from the
Minsk Group if the bill is approved by the French Senate and becomes
law as this would mean that France is no longer neutral in the
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Gül’s statement was
recently restated by DavutoÄ?lu, meaning the issue of the French
co-chairmanship needs to be reconsidered.

Considering the issue political rhetoric, Sabine Freizer, the
Ä°stanbul-based director of the International Crisis Group’s Europe
Program, in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman commented on the chances
of any changes in co-chairs, saying it is unlikely that Turkey will
get France replaced. `I don’t believe that Turkey will get much
support from the OSCE states when it tries to link the problems of the
Minsk Group with the passage of legislation in France that penalizes
persons denying the genocide,’ she said.

`Turkey needs to get the support of all 56 participating states — or
at least of the country that chairs the organization at that time. It
will also need the support of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the other three
current co-chairing countries, the US, France and Russia,’ Freizer
added.

The OSCE, the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental
organization, works on the basis of consensus, so if Armenia, as a
member of the OSCE, vetoes Turkey’s co-chairmanship of the Minsk
Group, Turkey cannot become the Mink Group’s co-chair.

Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Armenian Center for
Regional Studies, considers the removal of France from the Minsk Group
unlikely, especially as earlier pressure from within the EU failed to
unseat the French.

Freizer also stated that when the issue of replacing France as
co-chair by another EU country was on the table, her team was in
favor, saying that `the EU would be responsible for much of the
technical [nation building] and financial support if there is ever a
peace agreement.’ Hence, the expert thinks that any kind of change in
the leadership of the Minsk Group will be difficult to pass.

Praising Turkey’s enthusiasm for the Minsk Group, Giragosian says an
active Turkey within the Minsk Group `may play a greater and more
direct role in the region through this under-used format [Minsk group
mediation].’ According to Giragosian, if Turkey truly seeks to benefit
from a new dynamic focus on the OSCE, it needs to reconsider the
reconciliation process between Armenians and Turks. `The quickest path
toward garnering diplomatic dividends would be to re-engage and
restart the normalization process with Armenia in a more sincere and
resolute manner,’ he said.

Commenting on the role of the Minsk Group in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mustafa says the Minsk Group seems to have
failed as the conflict has remained unresolved for two decades and
progress in the negotiations process has been minimal.

Mustafa notes that questioning the French position in the Minsk Group
could be a shortcut to the start of calling into question the group’s
very mandate. The Azerbaijani deputy considers the Minsk Group
ineffective as it does not follow up on its commitments. `Not only
France, but the Minsk Group in its entirety needs to be replaced. It
is better that the Minsk Group be replaced by an international
institution such as the UN so that the Minsk Group, with its biased
member states openly supporting Armenia, does not ossify and that its
impartiality does not become permanent,’ he said.

Considering the Minsk Group format in many ways outdated, Freizer
thinks that a serious discussion is needed on the value and
effectiveness of the Minsk Group format.

The Minsk Group was established in 1992 to encourage a peaceful
resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which erupted in the late
`80s between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Minsk Group has been
mediating for 20 years between the conflicting sides, however, no
positive results have yet been reached, making the Minsk Group an
institution with an unfinished mission.

I AM MORE ARMENIAN THAN BRAZILIAN – MARCOS PIZZELLI

news.am
February 03, 2012 | 15:35

Armenian national team’s midfielder Marcos Pizzelli says he feels
himself more Armenian than Brazilian.

In his interview with Russian Sport Expressnewspaper, Pizzelli who
is playing for Russian Kuban FC, said he knows Armenian, English and
is currently learning Russian.

“Now I feel myself Brazilian- Armenian. I think even more Armenian
than Brazilian,” says Pizzelli, Brazilian by origin.

Marcos Pizzelli says he would never forget about Armenia which gave him
an opportunity to develop his skills. “I am grateful to this country
for everything. I would play for Armenia as long as the squad needs
me,” he stressed.

Speaking about Armenia’s recent successful performance in the EURO
2012 qualifiers, the midfielder stressed that the team was just doing
simple things to achieve results.

“Besides, we are like a family. The coach, goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky
and defender Hovsepyan are heads of the family. Berezovsky is always
ready to help. He is like our father,” Pizzelli emphasized.

ARMENIAN DIASPORA PROMISES TO HELP LOCAL ACTIVISTS IN SAVING TEGHUT FOREST

epress.am
02.03.2012

The group fighting to save Teghut forest in Armenia’s north has
launched an awareness campaign outside of the country, said group
members Yeghia Nersisyan and Gor Hakobyan at a press conference in the
capital today. Group members were in Moscow recently, where they met
with members of the local Armenian community. According to Nersisyan,
Moscow Armenians were extremely concerned about the issue and expressed
willingness to help: they promised to organize protests outside VTB
Bank (which is funding mining operations in Teghut) and write letters
to Greenpeace.

Present at the Moscow meeting, continued Nersisyan, was a
representative from Vallex Group (of which Teghout CJSC, the mining
company, is a subsidiary) who tried to make a speech. According to
the activist, though the environmentalists allowed him to speak,
the youth at the meeting refused to speak to him.

“For the first time, the solution to an environmental problem goes
outside the country’s borders. We plan to leave and meet with members
of Armenian communities in Canada and the US. Recently, one of our
activists, Arpine Galfayan, met with members of the Armenian community
in Germany and raised the issue of the Qajaran mine,” she said.

Their movement, Nersisyan continued, has received offers of financial
assistance from various organizations, but the environmentalists have
refused such offers, because they believe the issue “doesn’t recognize
political parties or programs and has a pan-Armenian urgency.”

“Teghut means Armenia. They tell us we’re fighting to save a couple of
trees. This isn’t a fight over a few trees, but for Armenia. Kajaran
[where residents are being displaced from mining operations] is a
testament to the consequences of the mining industry,” she said.

Gor Hakobyan also addressed the oft-expressed idea of the need to
politicize the movement. “The group defending Teghut is a civic
initiative – we have no political motives. However, any civic
initiative is associated with politics, as well as with social and
legal platforms.”

Recall, publicist Ara Nedolyan, in an interview with filmmaker Davit
Stepanyan published by Epress.am on Thursday, addressed this matter
of politicizing environmental issues, saying that by choosing not
to politicize these problems, environmentalists are treating the
symptoms but not the disease itself, which can be treated only by
changing the system.

From: Baghdasarian

TURKEY BANS FRANCE FROM USING ITS AIRSPACE AND TERRITORIAL WATERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 3, 2012 – 16:37 AMT

French state aircraft and warships are no longer using Turkish airspace
and territorial waters after permission requests in three different
cases were rejected by the Turkish government, France’s top diplomat
inAnkarasaid, amid the ongoing spat over the French bill penalizing
the Armenian Genocide denial.

“Our requests [for an aircraft and two warships] have been rejected,
so we are no longer issuing such requests. We are using alternative
routes,” ambassador of France to TurkeyLaurent Bili said.

Bili said the first rejection was to a request for a French military
aircraft that wanted to use Turkish airspace on its way toFrancefrom
Afghanistan. Similarly, two French warships were not allowed to
enter Turkish territorial waters recently. Turkey’s move against the
French military was part of sanctions imposed againstFranceafter the
French Parliament’s adoption of the Genocide draft law late December
last year.

“There was such an atmosphere [in Ankara] that necessitated my return
to France,” Bili said, adding that the Turkish reaction against
the move was a surprise for many French people but did not affect
Turkey’s image in the country. “France attaches great importance
to its ties with Turkey. We need to be calm. The law is not aimed
againstTurkey[…] The number of Armenians living inFranceis 10
times more than the number of Armenians in Turkey. They have become
a part of French history. I understand how sensitive issues are,
but cutting off ties is not a good idea.”Hurriyet Daily News quoted
ambassador as saying.

On January 23, the French Senate passed the bill criminalizing the
Armenian Genocide denial with 127 votes for and 86 against. Expected
to be signed into law by President within 14 days, the bill will
impose a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France
who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire.

Two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation
– from both the Senate and the lower house – said they had formally
requested the constitutional council examine the law. The groups said
they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required
to ask the council to test the law’s constitutionality. The council
is obliged to deliver its judgment within a month, but this can be
reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent.

R. HOVHANNISYAN: HERITAGE CANNOT COOPERATE WITH FORGERS

Panorama.am
03/02/2012

This month it will be revealed who will become constructive partners
of European People’s Party (RPA, Prosperous Armenia, Rule of Law,
Heritage parties have submitted membership applications), who will
obtain status of observer, Raffi Hovhannisyan, head of Heritage Party
said in a news conference. Mr. Hovhannisyan said that “in spite of
all the expectations, if free, fair and legal elections are held in
Armenia, “Heritage Party” will observe possibilities of cooperation
within EPP with those Armenian parties having joint EPP.”

“But if elections in Armenia are faked directly or indirectly or
anyhow, “Heritage Party” will not cooperate with falsifiers either
in Yerevan or in Europe. If all four parties obtain that status
of observer and of elections are forged, we’ll unveil our sharp
viewpoint,” said Raffi Hovhannisyan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PAUL AUSTER HITS BACK AT TURKISH PM

guardian.co.uk
Friday 3 February 2012 13.41 GMT

After Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the novelist ‘ignorant’, Auster
reiterates protest against country’s free speech prohibitions

Paul Auster Paul Auster: ‘There are nearly 100 writers imprisoned in
Turkey’. Photograph: Xavier Bertral/EPA/Corbis

American novelist Paul Auster has hit back after the Turkish prime
minister described him as “an ignorant man”.

Auster, author of the acclaimed New York Trilogy, told Turkish paper
Hurriyet earlier this week that he refused to visit Turkey because of
imprisoned journalists and writers. “How many are jailed now? Over
100?” Auster, a popular author in Turkey where his new book Winter
Journal has just made its first appearance, said. “Us Democrats got
rid of the Bushes. We got rid of [former vice president Dick] Cheney
who should have been put on trial for war crimes. What is going on
in Turkey?”

Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to respond,
saying on Wednesday, in what was described as a “mocking” tone:
“As if we need you! Who cares if you come or not? Would Turkey lose
any grandeur?”

Erdogan also criticised Auster, the grandson of Jewish immigrants, for
visiting Israel. “Supposedly Israel is a democratic, secular country, a
country where freedom of expression and individual rights and freedoms
are limitless. What an ignorant man you are ~E Aren’t these the ones
that rained bombs down on Gaza? The ones that launched phosphorus
bombs and used chemical weapons. How can you not see this?” said the
Turkish prime minister. “This gentleman can’t see the repression and
rights violations in Israel ~E This is serious disrespect to Turkey.”

The war of words continues with a statement issued by Auster, in
which he says that “whatever the prime minister might think about
the state of Israel, the fact is that free speech exists there and
no writers or journalists are in jail”.

“According to the latest numbers gathered by International PEN,
there are nearly 100 writers imprisoned in Turkey, not to speak of
independent publishers such as Ragip Zarakolu, whose case is being
closely watched by PEN Centers around the world,” said Auster.

Zarakolu was one of more than 40 free speech activists detained in
Istanbul in November, prompting international protests. The founder
of Belge Publishing House and a member of Turkish PEN, Zarakolu has
released controversial books documenting the massacre of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks during the first world war. Seven Swedish MPs have now
applied for him to be awarded the Nobel peace prize, a move supported
by the International Publishers Association.

COLLABORATING WITH VARTAN OSKANIAN IS POSSIBLE, SAYS HERITAGE PARTY LEADER

epress.am
02.03.2012

The Heritage Party considers collaboration with Armenia’s former
foreign affairs minister Vartan Oskanian (pictured) possible for
“achieving victory over the rule of law in Armenia” – as friends and
fellow citizens fighting electoral fraud, said Heritage Party leader
and former foreign minister himself Raffi Hovannisian at a press
conference earlier today. He added that he hasn’t met with Oskanian
and cannot say what’s on his mind in terms of his political engagement.

“Our doors are open and any political force or interested individual
that wants to discuss the margins of cooperation together, let me say,
that we’re open and I am gladly prepared to meet with them,” he said.

On possible areas of cooperation in the upcoming elections between his
party and Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharian, Hovannisian
said:

“Anyone following the Heritage Party will understand that we’re not
vindictive and spiteful, and we consider that the Republic of Armenia’s
future of sovereignty is found through searching for and developing
a new resolution. Criticizing all three presidents, we, at the same
time, appreciate them. We’ve entered a stage where false information
is being circulated, different kinds of offers of blackmail are being
made – let me just say that there was no meeting of the three [former]
foreign ministers.”

Hovannisian reminded the press that the Heritage Party is preparing
to back Armenian National Congress member Sasun Mikaelyan in the
upcoming Hrazdan mayoral elections.

THE FIRST AND LAST RESIGNATION
HAKOB BADALYAN

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:29:21 – 03/02/2012

In the history of independent Armenia, February 3 is the day of the
first and for the time being the last resignation of president. In the
evening of February 3, 1998 Levon Ter-Petrosyan made a speech on TV,
informing people that he stepped down at the demand of the forces
that are well-known to everyone.

There are different approaches and opinions on his resignation,
from extremely positive to extremely negative. A lot of people think
that Ter-Petrosyan~Rs resignation was a perfect expression of the
democracy and tolerance of the president, he did not hold on to power
desperately. Others think that if he was a really democratic president,
he should have left at the demand of the public in 1996, and not at the
demand of the notorious forces in 1998, and in 1998 he paid the price
for the falsifications and violence used to hold on to power in 1996.

Some people consider Ter-Petrosyan~Rs resignation as an ultimate
expression of responsibility, and others consider it as lack of
responsibility.

Ter-Petrosyan~Rs resignation is said to be related to the Karabakh
issue, while others think it was a mere reason for those forces known
to everyone to force him to resign.

Upon departure Ter-Petrosyan threatened that the party of peace leaves
and is substituted by the party of war. 14 years have passed since
his resignation but no war started, and the status quo was conserved,
a criminal and oligarchic system has been institutionalized in Armenia
the seeds of which were planted in the election stage of 1995-1996
when the so-called warlords and local strongmen took on key roles in
politics and gained wealth.

Moreover, this circumstance gave rise to a situation when the
application of the constitutional powers of the president would
incur instability.

It is strange that the application of the powers of the president might
destabilize the state, isn~Rt it? Hence, the state is build wrongly,
it is based on a mistake.

The establishment of constitutional order in Armenia is the primary
problem. Levon Ter-Petrosyan who resigned instead of using his
constitutional powers in 1998 is the leader of one of the forces
struggling for the establishment of constitutional order in Armenia,
demanding the resignation of a person who had demanded his resignation
in 1998 together with the ~Sforces known~T to everyone.

In the meantime, the resignation of 1998 was the first and the last
in the history of independent Armenia, perhaps because in Armenia
resignation is less and less viewed as an essential mechanism of
change of the situation because there is a precedent to indicate that
the situation does not improve.

Moreover, the precedent indicates that in the institutionalized
criminal and oligarchic militarized system the public should demand
that the presidents change the system rather than resign, though the
best way is that the society does it itself.

From: Baghdasarian

CNN TELLS ABOUT “LITTLE ARMENIA”

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 3, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS: Film director Nigol Bezjian was
born in Syria, raised in Lebanon and studied in the United States,
but nowhere does he feel more at home than in Little Armenia,
Armenpress reports.

Little Armenia is the vibrant Bourj Hammoud neighborhood of Beirut.

Bourj Hammoud was developed mainly in the 1930s by Armenian refugees
who arrived in Beirut after the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Bezjian, 77, director of the 1992 film “Chickpeas,” took CNN on a tour
of his favorite parts of Bourj Hammoud, taking in a family restaurant,
bookshop, church and art gallery, where he catches up with colleagues.

He said: “If you ask me what I am, I would tell you I’m Armenian.

“Bourj Hammoud has played a significant role especially after 1950s —
this is where the Armenian patriotism was born … Armenian literature
took root again.

“Armenian culture was reborn here in a way.”

As he walked down the bustling streets, Bezjian shook hands with
people he knew. “This is the thing I like, you run into people and
friends without planning,” he said.

In an Armenian bookstore, he said: “When I come here, I see lots of
acquaintances and friends from all different walks of life, I directly
connect to my people and I get lots of inspiration from them.”

In 2003, Bezjian made a documentary called “Muron,” named after
the consecrated mixture of oil, flowers, and scents used in various
rituals in the Armenian Church.

Visiting a church Bourj Hammoud, he said: “Muron is basically used
to consecrate icons and also for baptizing, and I wanted to see how
this was made.

“When they do a new one what remains from the oil is mixed in the new
one so in a way the Muron that is made today is directly connected to
what was made in year 301. This sense of continuity is very important.”

Bezjian said he is not religious, but loves the church for the silence
it provides from the noise of the streets outside.

“Church has always played a central role in preserving the Armenian
identity and culture,” he added.

Bezjian takes CNN to an Armenian radio station where the news is read
in Armenian and where he is a regular guest.

Ending his tour in a restaurant called Baroud run by a father and son,
Bezjian ponders the question of identity.

“In this part of the world people don’t talk about identity so much,
it’s a given. Identity is North American invention … who am I? You
are who you are.”

From: Baghdasarian

INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN ANTELIAS

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 3, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 3, ARMENPRESS: February 23-25 in the Mother Cathedral
of Antelias, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia will
hold an international assembly dedicated to the Armenian Genocide. The
assembly will be entitled “From Recognition to Compensation”.

Thirty internationally known specialists of international law and
genocide will participate in the assembly. The opening and closing
ceremonies will be headed by Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia
Aram I.

From: Baghdasarian