Month: February 2012

AUTHOR OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL BILL SHOCKED AT CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL’S STATEMENT

Tert.am
29.02.12

Valerie Boyer, a member of the French National Assembly who
represents the Bouches-du-Rhône department, is shocked at the French
Constitutional Council’s statement on the bill criminalizing denial
of genocides.

The Council actually made different decisions on two genocides:
the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide were not equally
considered. She regrets the Constitutional Council’s ruling and is
determined to discuss a new bill with the government. If the Armenian
Genocide was officially recognized, any denials must be punished. This
meets the standards of justice, equality and human rights, Boyer says.

From: A. Papazian

MARSEILLE MAYOR SAYS GENOCIDE DENIAL IS INTOLERABLE

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 13:39

Mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin said he shares disappointment
of the Armenian community regarding the recent decision of France’s
Constitutional Council, Maritima INFOS reports.

In his statement, he stressed that “denial is intolerable and I am
confident that we must struggle against it.”

“I agree with the Armenian community and I am pleased that the
President had asked the government to prepare a new text, which will
take into account the decision of the Constitutional Council,” he said.

French President Nikolas Sarkozy assigned the Government to elaborate
new bill on genocides, taking into account the decision of the
Constitutional Council on banning law criminalizing denial of
genocides, including the Armenian Genocide.

TURKISH PRESSURES, THREAT WON IN THIS ROUND – ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 12:50

YEREVAN. – It is not the end of the world that France’s Constitutional
Council deemed unconstitutional the bill that criminalizes the
denial of genocides-including the Armenian Genocide-, the opposition
ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party’s Political Affairs Bureau and Armenian
Cause Office Chief Giro Manoyan stated during a press conference
on Wednesday.

In his words, the Turkish pressures and threat-and to some extent, the
bribes, too-won in this round, which does not bring honor to France.

As per Manoyan, the French Armenian community already has announced
that everything does not end with this, since the activities will
commence with a new force so that the aforesaid bill is adopted.

RALLY COMMEMORATING 24TH ANNIVERSARY OF SUMGAIT POGROMS HELD IN UKRAINE NEARBY OSCE OFFICE

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 10:46

KIEV. – A public rally commemorating the victims of the Armenian
pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, was held Tuesday in front of the OSCE
Office in Kiev, analitika.at.ua informs.

The event brought together representatives of international
organizations, Ukrainian politicians, human rights activists, Kazaks,
and Diaspora Armenians. Also, young Georgians and Iranians joined
the Armenian youth in the commemorative rally.

At the end of the event, the participants handed a letter to OSCE’s
representation, in which the past history of the Armenian pogroms
in the Azerbaijani cities, and the Armenian position with respect to
the Karabakh conflict were presented in detail.

TWO MORE ARMENIANS DIE AFTER MOSCOW BAKERY BLAST

news.am
February 29, 2012 | 11:02

MOSCOW. – Another Armenian, who was injured in the recent explosion
in a Moscow bakery, has died.

As Interfax News Agency learned from medical circles, the woman lost
her life on Tuesday, and she was a resident of Armenia.

Thus the woman became the eighth casualty of the bakery blast.

Another resident of Armenia, Vrezh Sargsyan, 22, had died on February
26, LifeNews informs.

The explosion occurred on February 19 in a Moscow bakery where
employees from CIS states were working.

The bakery’s owner, Rafik Markaryan, was arrested for ten days.

In the list of injured parties, which was publicized after the
explosion, there were nine Armenians and two Tajiks. The Tajiks,
a woman by the surname of Sargsyan, as well as Karen Hakobyan and
Vrezh Sargsyan had died in hospital. The last victim’s identity is
not yet disclosed.

From: Baghdasarian

ZHOGHOVURD: ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN’S OFFICE: 387 CALLS, ONE ANSWER

Tert.am
29.02.12

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Karen Andreasyan arrived
in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city, several months ago, and
held a meeting with representatives of local NGOs.

He announced the plans to open offices in all Armenian regions for
local citizens apply for help.

The office in the Shirak region was to have been opened this February.

Andreasyan said then that the project cost about AMD 10m. The
government refused the application, and the Ombudsman promised to
procure donor funds. However, no office has been opened in Shirak
since. The Ombudsman’s office reported that six offices in Armenia’s
regions are expected to open this March. The newspaper reports,
however, that no progress has been made – even the hotline is not
operating.

Ara Sukiasyan, Chairman of the Children’s Society NGO, made 387 calls
to the hotline. “It was the last call that got the answer. When I
explained the problem, they advised me to call to the hotline of the
Ministry of Defense. That’s all their work!”

CANADA READY FOR ARMENIA FRIENDLY
John Molinaro

City News

Feb 29 2012
Toronto, Ont

powered by sportsnet.ca

European clubs might not see the value of releasing their players to
compete in international friendlies, but Canadian coach Stephen Hart
sure does.

Hart struggled to put together an 18-man roster for Wednesday’s
exhibition match versus Armenia, as he had to deal with pro teams in
Europe that didn’t want to release their Canadian players for duty.

Those that did comply hardly did so in the spirit of co-operation.

Hart received so much resistance that some teams badgered him to find
out the exact time of the Canada-Armenia match — FIFA rules stipulate
that clubs are required to release their players for international
duty 48 hours before the match kicks off.

The club vs. country debate rages on, but for Hart there is great
value in Canada playing these friendlies, especially with the next
round of World Cup qualification scheduled to kick off in June.

“It’s important to play. It’s important to get the players together,”
Hart said Tuesday. “We spoke about a few things we will try to achieve
in the game and hopefully the players will go out and do their best
under the circumstances. The most important thing is to play the
game and play against some good opposition and just get familiar with
each other.”

Wednesday’s game takes place in Limassol, Cyprus, and falls on the
first FIFA International Date of the 2012 calendar year. The neutral
site match will be the first meeting between the two nations.

Although it failed to earn a tournament berth, Armenia posted an
impressive 5-2-3 record in Euro 2012 qualifying, finishing third in its
group behind Russia and Ireland. Impressively, they scored 22 goals,
the most in their group.

Armenia currently sits 41st in the FIFA world rankings, 30 spots
ahead of Canada.

Hart expects Canada’s defence to be tested by an attacking Armenian
side.

“They play the ball on the ground a lot; they’re not a very direct
team. They play very quickly, a lot of combinations, very similar to
a Latin style,” Hart stated.

Wednesday’s match will be Armenia’s second in 48 hours — they dropped
a 2-0 decision to Serbia Tuesday in another exhibition encounter in
Cyprus. Armenia brought 31 players to camp for the pair of games.

Hart watched the Serbia match, and said Armenia fielded a starting
line-up of mostly under-21 and under-23 players. He expects Armenia’s
“A-team” to take to the field Wednesday.

Hart revealed veteran defender Kevin McKenna will serve as captain. He
also said he will try to use all 18 members of his roster at some
point during the match, including both goalkeepers Milan Borjan,
Kenny Stamatopoulos, and Samuel Piette, a 17-year-old midfielder who
has been called up to the senior national team for the first time.

“He’s come in and he hasn’t shown any fear. He’s mixed it up and I
like his attitude,” Hart said of Piette.

Hart’s Canadian side played three friendlies last year: a 1-0 loss
to Greece (Feb. 9), a 1-0 win over Belarus (March 9), and a 2-2 draw
with Ecuador in Toronto (June 1).

Canada has made it through to third round of the CONCACAF qualifiers
for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The Reds will compete in a
round-robin group with Cuba, Honduras and Panama where the top two
teams will advance to the final round of CONCACAF qualification.

Canada’s first match is on the road against Cuba on June 8, followed
by a game against Honduras on June 12 in Toronto.

The Reds play the United States in Toronto in a qualifying tune-up
match on June 3. Hart previously said he hopes to gather his squad
together in a training camp once the European club season is over
and organize another exhibition match in late May or early June in
preparation for the Cuba match.

News broke Wednesday that the European Club Association, an
organization representing soccer clubs in Europe, successfully
lobbied UEFA to reduce the number of yearly international dates to
nine from 12.

FIFA still has to approve, but if the ECA gets its way and there are
fewer international dates, Hart’s job will become that more difficult.

“It’s funny because I told my staff a few months ago that this was
coming down the pipeline,” Hart said. “Clubs are becoming more and
more powerful, (and) club football is becoming more and more powerful.

And I should stress European club football.”

Canada’s only previous World Cup appearance came in 1986 in Mexico
where it bowed out in the first round after suffering three shutout
losses.

Programming alert: Watch Canada vs Armenia live on Sportsnet, starting
with our pre-game show at 11:30 am ET on February 29.

AZERBAIJANI AMBASSADOR CALLED TO IRAN’S FOREIGN MINISTRY

Panorama.am
29/02/2012

Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Iran has been called to Foreign Ministry
regarding purchase of military equipment from Israel, Iranian “FARS”
news agency reported.

Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Iran Javanshir Akhundov told Iranian Deputy
FM Seyyed Abbas Araghchi that the purchase of military equipment
isn’t addressed against Iran.

Azerbaijani Ambassador stated that the military equipment bought from
Israel would be used against Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Iranian deputy FM insisted that Israel was using the territory of
Azerbaijan to implement terror acts against Iran.

Azerbaijani 1news.az reported that Iran’s Embassy in Azerbaijan denied
news regarding Iranian FM Ali Aqbar Salehi’s visit to Baku.

Read also: Iranian MP: Azerbaijan toy in hands of Israel, USA
[]

From: A. Papazian

IRANIAN MEDIA: 1.5 MILLION ARMENIAN MURDERED IN GENOCIDE CARRIED OUT BY OTTOMAN TURKEY

Panorama.am
29/02/2012

About 1.5 million Armenian were assassinated in genocide carried
out by Ottoman Turkey during 1914-1916, Iranian parsine.com news
site reported.

First, the author of the story tells about social-economic situation
in Western Armenia before genocide, more than three million Armenians
were living under Ottoman rule in the 19th century. The story focuses
on massacres of Sasun in 1890-1892, Istanbul in 1896, Adana in 1902.

During those slaughters more than 300 000 Armenians were killed.

Referring to slaughters carried out during the world war first – Mona
Doran, it’s mentioned that Armenian med aged 16-51 were enlisted to
army service, but later were murdered. In 1915 Armenian were forced
to migrate to deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia.

“Minister of interior affairs Taleat pasha ordered to kill all the
Armenians, he ordered not to sympathize even children. First, the
Turks kill Armenian intellectuals and then burn people in their flats,
kill the children or throw them into river,” Iranian media refers to
commands implemented by Ottoman senior statesmen.

From: A. Papazian

FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL’S STATEMENT TURKEY’S ‘TEMPORARY SUCCESS’ – ARMENIAN EXPERT

Tert.am
29.02.12

In an interview with the 1st TV channel of Armenia, the expert in
Turkic studies Ruben Melkonyan addressed the political and legal
aspects of the French Constitutional Council’s statement on the bill
criminalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide.

“The fact is that the French state made a political assessment of
the Armenian Genocide and the French supreme legislative bodies
recognized it. However, the legal system of France, a center of
European democracy, may disagree with the country’s political or
legislative system. That does not mean, however, that the French
state has changed its position on the fact of the Armenian Genocide,”
Melkonyan said.

He pointed out the fact that it is at great financial and political
sacrifice that Turkey suceeds in preventing further developments.

“It is not a complete victory at all as Turkey believes it to be. It
is temporary success to satisfy their present nationalistic desires,”
Melkonyan said.

He is sure of further political and legal processes related to the
Armenian Genocide bill, and it will be re-introduced before the French
parliament. Given the forthcoming presidential election in France,
as well as other processes, any ultimate assessments can hardly be
expected in the near future.

“Turkey’s steps contribute to the international awareness and
recognition of the fact of Armenian Genocide,” the expert said.

Turkey’s pressure was the only reason for the French Constitutional
Council’s statement. “Both this bill and the law on Jewish Holocaust
have the same legal basis. If the Constitutional Council noticed
unconstitutional elements in the bill, it must necessarily notice
the same in the law on the Jewish Holocaust. I think it is the French
legal system’s task to apply equal standards or admit they are applying
double standards,” Melkonyan said.

After being amended the bill will certainly be adopted, and Turkey’s
efforts are doomed to failure. “Turkey will go on facing such threats
as long as it refuses to admit its guilt. The present developments
may cause discussions on the Armenian Genocide problem intensify
throughout the world. Different countries’ legislative bodies are
more and more likely to adopt relevant bills,” Melkonyan said.