Month: September 2013

EU VS. RUSSIA

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013

AMANDA PAUL

Two weeks ago I wrote about the decision of Armenian President Serzh
Sarksyan to join the Russian-led Customs Union instead of proceeding
with a trade agreement Yerevan had spent over three years negotiating
with the EU.

Armenia’s turnaround acted as a wake-up call for the EU in terms of
understanding how seriously Russia is working to repeat the Armenia
case with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. With the EU’s Vilnius Eastern
Partnership (EaP) Summit taking place in November and the Summit of
the Commonwealth of Independent States due to take place on Oct. 25,
a geopolitical battle is under way between the EU and Russia. For
the EU, this is a battle it cannot afford to lose in terms of the
success of its neighborhood policies.

The EaP was never intended to be anti-Russian. Russia views its
Western neighborhood as a strategic imperative and views the EaP as
a tool for containment. Hence the creation of its own integrating
projects. While there are no criteria or conditions for joining the
Customs Union, joining countries not only need to give a hefty chunk
of their budget to the new supranational institutions but also their
sovereignty. Hence the only way Moscow can get them on board is by
a lot of arm-twisting and bullying.

While Ukraine and Moldova are direct neighbors of the EU, with Ukraine
being of particular importance because of its size, regional role
and economic potential, Georgia should not be forgotten. Therefore,
I was disappointed when during a recent speech by Lithuanian President
Dalia GrybauskaitÄ-, she stated that the EU would fight for Ukraine and
Moldova, but when asked about Georgia she said Georgia had signaled
that it was interested in both options. She was no doubt referring
to the comments of Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili over
Customs Union membership despite the fact that Georgia’s leadership
has reiterated on numerous occasions that European integration is
their priority.

While Georgia may be further away and in a difficult neighborhood,
it is equally important. While not everything is perfect, Georgia
has worked hard to meet EU criteria. Furthermore, it is now the only
country in the South Caucasus where the EU has real influence. Armenia
is lost, while leverage on Azerbaijan is almost non-existent. Russia
has already used a lot of sticks on Georgia. They have invaded the
country, occupied two regions, consolidated a military presence, cut
off gas supplies and banned Georgian wine and water. While Georgians
want good ties with Moscow, it needs to be a relationship of mutual
respect. I doubt Georgians will forget the image of Russian tanks
rolling towards Tbilisi only a few years ago. Yet Moscow still has
the cards and is likely to lure Tbilisi with carrots, with rumors
that Russia will offer to reverse its recognition of South Ossetia
and Abkhazia as independent states or even make a deal whereby one
of these regions is returned to Georgia.

The EU has reacted to Russia’s new assertive approach, but so far
with words only. A European Parliament resolution states that “MEPs
deplored the unacceptable pressure that Russia has been putting on
EU Eastern Partnership countries as the Vilnius Eastern Partnership
Summit approaches. They call on Moscow to respect the independent
states’ sovereignty and not to intervene in their internal affairs,
as required by international law.” Unfortunately, this demand is
about as likely to be met as asking a lion to no longer eat meat.

Small and vulnerable states such as Georgia need to know the EU
is fully behind them and that they will get adequate support both
politically and economically. The EU needs to move away from what
is often viewed as a passive approach and show some real strategic
thinking. It needs to demonstrate that its neighborhood policies
have teeth and are able to deliver. The EU should start to open its
markets, increase financial assistance and proceed more rapidly with
the lifting of visas. Second, it needs to speed up its technical
readiness, which often seems to move at a snail’s pace. Moreover,
it needs to show the ticket it has sold its neighbors has an end
destination, which is presently not the case.

From: Baghdasarian

LUSIN DINK’S DEBUT FILM ‘SAROYANLAND’ TO BE SCREENED AT FILMFEST HAMBURG

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 /TODAY’S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL

“Saroyan Ulkesi” (SaroyanLand) — the debut docu-drama of Lusin Dink,
the niece of the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink —
will be shown next month at Filmfest Hamburg.

A Turkish and Armenian co-production, the film will be screened on
Oct. 1 in the WORT! section of the festival, which will be marking
its 21st edition from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5. The focus of the section is
“on boundaries and reciprocal dynamics from cinema and literature,”
according to the festival website.

Recounting the story of Pulitzer Prize-winning US born Armenian
writer-dramatist William Saroyan as he embarks on a journey in the
1960s to go to the eastern Turkish province of Bitlis, from where his
family came, the film fits into the festival theme “exile,” according
to a press release issued by the publicist of the docu-drama on Monday.

“Saroyan Ulkesi” premiered at the 32nd Ä°stanbul International Film
Festival, where it was also included in the festival’s national feature
competition. The film, which was also featured at Switzerland’s Locarno
International Film Festival this year, will be vying for the best
documentary award at the 50th edition of Antalya’s Altın Portakal
(Golden Orange) International Film Festival. The film was awarded
with the Silver Apricot prize at the 10th Golden Apricot Yerevan
International Film Festival’s Panorama competition.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COURT ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR TUNCEL IN NEW DINK TRIAL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 /TODAYSZAMAN.COM, ÝSTANBUL

An Ýstanbul court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for Erhan
Tuncel, who was acquitted of all charges related to the 2007 killing
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The Ýstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on Tuesday began a review of the
trial of the 2007 killing of Dink after a decision by the Supreme Court
of Appeals overturned the Ýstanbul court’s first ruling on the murder.

Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2004 bombing
of a McDonald’s in Trabzon but was acquitted of all charges regarding
the Dink murder, including the prosecutors’ claim that he was the one
who gave orders to Yasin Hayal, the man who was given a life sentence
for soliciting Dink’s shooter.

A written statement sent to press by the Dink family on Tuesday said
the family will no longer attend the hearings to avoid being part of
the “games played by the state mechanisms.”

Dink, the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos,
was shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007, by ultranationalist teenager Ogun
Samast outside the newspaper’s offices in Ýstanbul in broad daylight.

Samast, tried in a juvenile court because he was a minor at the time
of the crime, was sentenced to nearly 23 years in prison. On Jan. 17,
2012, the Ýstanbul 14th High Criminal Court gave another suspect
in the case, Yasin Hayal, a life sentence for inciting Samast to
commit murder.

The prosecutor of the first trial said that the murder was planned
and carried out by the Ergenekon terrorist organization, but the
court denied the existence of organized criminal activity in the
murder. The prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals later said
that there was a terrorist organization involved and that the state
should investigate it.

The 9th Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals in May ruled that there
was an organization involved, but said that it was a simple crime ring,
effectively denying that Ergenekon played any role in the murder.

Dink’s lawyers had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of
Appeals, arguing that the lower court’s ruling violated the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) by acknowledging the existence of a criminal
organization but declining to investigate it, and that the court
ignored evidence of a terrorist organization.

From: Baghdasarian

U.S. GOVERNMENT DISTANCES ITSELF FROM CALIFORNIAN OFFICIALS’ PLANNED VISIT TO KARABAKH

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013, 14:40 (GMT+05:00)
By Sara Rajabova

Foreign nationals continue paying illegal visits to the
Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh despite
warnings from the Baku government.

According to Armenian media reports, a delegation of Californian
officials and representatives from the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA) are expected to visit Nagorno-Karabakh.

Commenting on the reports, the U.S. embassy in Baku said the Obama
administration has nothing to do with the planned visit to the region
by Californian officials.

“We have seen media reports that a group of Californian state
officials may travel to Nagorno-Karabakh,” the embassy told Trend news
agency. “The U.S. government is not involved in this reported trip.”

The embassy said that the U.S. government’s policy on Nagorno-Karabakh
has not changed.

“We urge all sides to work together to achieve a peaceful resolution
to the conflict,” it said.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry last month released a list of foreigners
blacklisted for visiting Nagorno-Karabakh without Baku’s permission.

Elman Abdullayev, head of the ministry’s press service, said such
visits are illegal and damaging to peace talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from
Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More
than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million displaces
by the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in
1994 but Armenia has continued the occupation in defiance of four UN
Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional
withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the US have produced no
results so far.

DINK RETRIAL STARTS WITH DECISION TO ARREST DEFENDANT ERHAN TUNCEL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 17 2013

17 September 2013 /YONCA POYRAZ DOÄ~^AN, Ä°STANBUL

A local court has ordered the arrest of Erhan Tuncel — previously
acquitted of all charges related to the 2007 killing of Hrant Dink,
the late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos — in
the retrial of the Dink murder case amidst repeated chants calling for
justice by Hrant’s Friends outside the biggest courthouse in Ä°stanbul
on Tuesday and a decision by Dink’s family not to take part anymore
in the “games played by state mechanisms.”

The Ä°stanbul 14th High Criminal Court began a review of the trial
after the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned in May the Ä°stanbul
court’s ruling of Jan. 17, 2012, in which it dismissed the involvement
of an organized criminal network in the murder.

Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department,
was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the 2004 bombing
of a McDonald’s restaurant in the Black Sea town of Trabzon but
was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder, including
prosecutors’ claims in the first trial that he was the one who ordered
Yasin Hayal, the man who was given a life sentence for soliciting
Dink’s shooter, to murder him.

Hakan Bakırcıoglu, one of the lawyers representing the Dink family
in the case, said that the Supreme Court of Appeals’ 9th Criminal
Chamber had indicated in its May decision that Tuncel may have played
a crucial role in the murder of Dink, so he was expected at the court
as a defendant on Tuesday.

“We expected the Ä°stanbul court to issue this arrest warrant because
of the high court’s decision,” he told Today’s Zaman.

Tuncel’s lawyer, Erdogan Soruklu, presented a doctor’s report to the
court Tuncel was not able to appear due to an illness, but the lawyer
said Tuncel will be present at the next hearing.

Soruklu said that the high court’s overturning of the local court’s
decision was incorrect and given under pressure; therefore, it was
against the citizenship and human rights of Tuncel.

“Tuncel was stigmatized as ‘big brother’ in public, and the appeals
process was influenced,” he said, insisting that Tuncel is not guilty
of the crime as the local court first ruled for his acquittal.

The only defendants present at the first hearing were Hayal and
Salih Hacısalihoglu.

Asked by Judge Mustafa BaÅ~_er to present his views regarding the
high court’s decision, Hayal said he is not guilty of killing Dink
but Tuncel is. Hayal referred to written confessions from a former
gendarmerie intelligence officer, known as M.A., previously presented
to the court in which the officer admits he was going to kill Dink
with Tuncel.

“I have not established or run a criminal organization. I don’t
know why I am being linked to an alleged criminal organization,”
Hayal told the court.

Hayal and Tuncel, along with all other defendants, were cleared
of charges of membership in a terrorist organization in the local
court’s ruling.

Dink was shot and killed in broad daylight on Jan. 19, 2007, by an
ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of his newspaper in
Ä°stanbul. Evidence discovered since then has led to claims that the
murder was linked to the “deep state,” a term used in reference to
a shady group of military and civilian bureaucrats believed to have
links to criminal elements.

Bahri Belen, one of the lawyers for the Dink family, spoke in court
in reference to the organized, deep-state criminal network, but Judge
BaÅ~_er warned him, saying that the high court limited the scope of
the involvement of a criminal network to only a few people.

The lawyers representing the Dink family fear the new trial process
will stay within these limits drawn by the high court.

Fethiye Cetin, the chief lawyer on the case, said last week at a
press conference that the new process is most likely to put the case
at a worse standpoint than before because the initial trial had been
launched on the premise of a terrorist organization, but the high
court decision says it is an armed organization formed to commit a
specific crime.

Belen emphasized this point in court, indicating that the high court’s
decision has been wrongly interpreted as a positive turning point
for their case.

“We don’t think that this criminal network is a small one, like the
high court does,” he said. “The Supreme Court of Appeals is wrong,
but it is still important that it overturned the ruling of the
local court.”

Cetin explained that according to the decision of the high court,
the criminal organization involved was established in 2004 by Hayal
with political motivations and consisted of only a few other people,
including Tuncel, who were ultranationalists angry with Dink for
“insulting Turkishness,” as he had been charged with, so they wanted
to punish him.

She also noted that Dink was not even sentenced in 2004 for that
crime attributed to him.

Earlier this month, Cetin published a book titled “Utanc Duyuyorum:
Hrant Dink Cinayetinin Yargısı” (“I Feel Ashamed: The Judgment of
the Hrant Dink Murder”), explaining that the high court had defined
the motivations of the organization as being “political” rather than
“terrorist” in its verdict that led to the review of the case.

Dink’s lawyers had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of
Appeals, arguing that the lower court’s ruling violated the Turkish
Penal Code (TCK) by acknowledging the existence of a criminal
organization but declining to investigate it and that the court
ignored the evidence of the involvement of a terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, a written statement sent to press by the Dink family on
Tuesday said the family will no longer attend the hearings to avoid
being part of the “games played by state mechanisms.”

Cetin read some parts of that statement at the hearing, indicating
that it should be in the court records because the family’s decision
is directly related to the review of the case.

“I have spoken with my clients; they are the late Hrant Dink’s family
and close friends. They do not want to come to hearings anymore because
they do not want to watch this game anymore. They also said that this
case does not belong only to their family but to others who would like
to see a transparent state and peace, so for that reason they would
like us, the lawyers, to follow the case closely on their behalf,”
she said.

The family’s statement made headlines today in some Turkish newspapers
because some members of the Dink family regularly attended the hearings
of the first trial and their decision represents a turning point that
they have lost faith in the justice system.

Part of the statement by the Dink family, dated Sept. 16, reads: “In
order not to become dirtier, we will not step into those courthouses
where lies are so easily said, force so easily used, and rightfulness,
truth, rights and justice so easily stepped on. … Since the day
Hrant Dink was slain on Jan. 19, 2007, the system in Turkey, with
its judiciary, police, military, civilian bureaucracy and political
institutions, have made fun of us. … On the other hand, opposition
parties, with their attitude toward Article 301 and support for
ultranationalist feelings and breeding hitmen, were the main actors
in the climate of murder. … We will be where we are and where are
supposed be: on the side of those who were killed by the sticks of
the state.”

The next hearing of the case will be on Dec. 3.

AZERBAIJANI DEFENSE MINISTRY: “WE WON’T WITHDRAW SNIPERS FROM THE FRONT LINE, UNLESS WAR ENDS”

APA, Azerbaijan
Sept 17 2013

[ 17 September 2013 14:48 ]

Terter. Teymur Zahidoghlu – APA. A delegation of high-ranking officers
of the Defense Ministry, the country’s intellectuals, parliamentarians
and public representatives have today visited the military unit in
Terter region.

APA’s Karabakh bureau reports that the delegation included Chairman
of the Writers’ Union of Azerbaijan Anar, MPs Hadi Rajabli, Aydin
Mirzazade, Nureddin Mehdikhanli and others.

Following this, head of the Defense Ministry press service, Colonel
Eldar Sabiroglu held a briefing. Speaking about the development of
the Azerbaijani Army, Sabiroglu noted that this process is going
on. He also said that Azerbaijan is holding discussions on military
cooperation with more than 20 countries.

Asked about the death of soldiers, Sabiroglu said that the Defense
Ministry is neither hiding information about the killed servicemen
nor distorting the facts, all the information is released accurately.

Stressing that Armenia suffered losses two times more than Azerbaijan
in shootings on the frontline, the spokesman also commented on the
demands of the international organizations regarding the withdrawal of
snipers from the frontline: “The Azerbaijani state and Defense Ministry
refuse it. The snipers will not be withdrawn unless the war ends.”

ARMENIE : OUVERTURE D’UNE AMBASSADE PRES LE SAINT-SIEGE

Chretiente.info
Sept 17 2013

ZENIT , le 17 septembre 2013 a 20:51

Le ministre des Affaires etrangères au Vatican

Rome, 17 septembre 2013 (Zenit.org) Anne Kurian 0 clics

L’Armenie ouvre officiellement une ambassade près le Saint-Siège a
Rome, rapporte l’agence de presse ARKA ce 17 septembre 2013.

Dans le cadre d’un voyage en Pologne et en Italie (17-20 septembre),
Edouard Nalbandian, ministre armenien des Affaires etrangères,
assistera a la ceremonie de l’ouverture de l’Ambassade armenienne au
Vatican, le 19 septembre.

Il rencontrera egalement Mgr Dominique Mamberti, secretaire du
Saint-Siège pour les relations avec les Etats.

D’après des chiffres de l’Aide a l’Eglise en detresse, l’Armenie est
un pays a majorite chretienne (84,9%) dont 7,6% de catholiques et
75,8% d’orthodoxes.

Meme s’ils ont des ambassadeurs près le Saint-Siège, tous les pays
n’ouvrent pas d’ambassade speciale près le Saint-Siège: un ambassadeur
a Paris ou Genève peut assumer ce rôle. C’est donc un signe d’interet
special qui fait ouvrir une ambassade a Rome près le Saint-Siège.

L’Armenie a aussi un nouvel ambassadeur près le Saint-Siège depuis
juin dernier: un jeune ambassadeur de 35 ans (il est ne en octobre
1977), M. Mikayel Minasyan.

Le pape Francois l’a recu au Vatican, a l’occasion de la presentation
de ses lettres de creance. Outre sa langue maternelle, il parle
francais et trois autres langues.

Le Vatican accorde une importance particulière aux chretiens d’Armenie
et de la diaspora. Des gestes ont ponctue le pontificat de Jean-Paul
II comme, notamment, des celebrations en rite armenien du Vatican,
des visites mutuelles, le don d’une relique de Saint-Gregoire
l’Illimunateur, l’arrivee d’une statue de ce grand saint au Vatican,
le voyage de Jean-Paul II lui-meme, en fevrier 2001.

Il y a aussi la question du genocide armenien. En recevant le
patriarche de Cilicie des Armeniens, Nersès Bedros XIX Tarmouni,
au Vatican, le 3 juin 2013, le pape Francois a lui-meme qualifie le
genocide armenien de ” premier genocide du XXe s. “.

Le patriarche etait accompagne par une delegation d’Armeniens, dont
la fille d’une famille ayant survecu au genocide, le ” Medz Yeghern “,
” le grand mal “, perpetre en 1915 par la Turquie de l’epoque.

Le pape a ecoute la femme, et il a declare : ” Le premier genocide
du XXe siècle a ete celui des Armeniens “. Des paroles très fermes,
alors que le genocide du peuple armenien n’est pas reconnu par toutes
les Nations, et pas encore par la Turquie d’aujourd’hui.

Le Parlement francais a reconnu quant a lui le genocide le 29 janvier
2001 en adoptant une loi a article unique : ” La France reconnaît
publiquement le genocide armenien de 1915. ”

En tout, ce genocide a ete reconnu officiellement par 21 Etats,
ainsi que par des organisations internationales comme la Commission
ONU pour les crimes de guerre, le Parlement europeen et le Conseil
~cumenique des Eglises

EGYPTE : VERS UNE RECONNAISSANCE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

Aleteia
17 sept 2013

Un procès historique contre la Turquie annonce pour le 5 novembre
aurait un retentissement dans tout le monde arabe

L’Egypte s’appreterait-elle a emboîter le pas au Liban, le seul pays
arabe a avoir reconnu jusqu’ici le genocide armenien ?

Depuis la destitution du president Mohamed Morsi, le 3 juillet
dernier, cette possibilite a l’air de faire son chemin, a en croire
la diffusion de divers articles condamnant le negationnisme turc du
genocide armenien et exhortant les nouveaux dirigeants de l’Egypte
a le reconnaître.

” Malgre le faux Tweet attribue au president egyptien par interim,
Adly Mansour, dans lequel on apprenait que l’Egypte reconnaîtrait le
genocide des Armeniens, il n’en demeure pas moins vrai que l’Egypte est
aujourd’hui sensibilisee sur la question, notamment par le truchement
d’une emission televisee, de 36 minutes, qui a ete vue par des millions
de telespectateurs ” en Egypte et dans tout le monde arabe, confirme
Harut Sassounian, le directeur de The California Courier traduit de
l’anglais par Christine Gardon pour le Collectif VAN.

Harut Sassounian, qui participait a cette emission, le 4 septembre
dernier, fait etat d’une demarche sans precedent annoncee par l’avocat
Muhammad Saad Khairallah, directeur de l’Institut du front populaire
en Egypte : celui-ci a decide d’engager une action en justice accusant
la Turquie d’avoir commis un genocide a l’encontre des Armeniens,
et annonce l’organisation d’ici peu de rassemblements publics visant
a demontrer que le procès contre la Turquie – prevu le 5 novembre
prochain – emane d’une demande populaire.

Selon l’avocat, la question du genocide armenien aurait dû etre
soulevee depuis longtemps en Egypte.

A la veille du centenaire du genocide armenien (commemore chaque 24
avril dans le monde), l’avocat espère que la Cour rendra une decision
historique sur cette question fondamentale ” des droits de l’homme
“, et que ce procès forcera l’Egypte a servir d’exemple a d’autres
pays arabes pour qu’ils reconnaissent le genocide armenien.

From: Baghdasarian

NOUVEAU PROCES EN TURQUIE DE L’ASSASSINAT DE HRANT DINK

Challenges.fr, France
17 sept 2013

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Le nouveau procès de l’assassinat de Hrant
Dink, un journaliste turco-armenien dont la mort avait suscite
des rassemblements monstres, s’est ouvert mardi a Istanbul où des
manifestants ont accuse les autorites de “couvrir” les commanditaires
du meurtre.

Le journaliste a ete abattu par balles en janvier 2007 devant le siège
du journal qu’il dirigeait, Agos. Hrant Dink critiquait la politique
d’Ankara a l’encontre des 60.000 membres de la petite communaute
armenienne de Turquie.

Il s’etait attire les foudres des nationalistes turcs en evoquant
le “genocide armenien” et avait ete poursuivi plusieurs fois pour
“insulte a l’identite turque”.

En 2011, le tireur, Igun Samast, 17 ans au moment des faits, a ete
condamne a 23 ans de prison par un tribunal des mineurs. L’an passe,
un deuxième suspect, Yasin Hayal, a ete condamne a la reclusion
criminelle a perpetuite pour avoir ete l’instigateur du meurtre.

Mais une cour d’appel a juge en mai que ces deux hommes n’avaient
pas agi seuls et faisaient partie d’un complot plus large, ouvrant
la voie a ce nouveau procès où comparaissent huit accuses.

La famille du journaliste et ses partisans affirment cependant que
la justice ne vise toujours pas les veritables responsables de sa
mort et deplorent qu’elle ne se soit pas penchee sur une possible
implication des nationalistes du reseau Ergenekon, condamnes le mois
dernier pour avoir voulu renverser le gouvernement islamo-conservateur
de Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Qui aurait pu mener avec succès une enquete sur un meurtre dans lequel
tous les organes de l’Etat etaient impliques”, s’indigne sa famille
dans une lettre publiee mardi sur le site internet du journal Agos.

“Ce cirque doit cesser, les auteurs veritables doivent etre traduits
en justice”, a declare Gulten Kaya, veuve du chanteur kurde Ahmet
Kaya, qui manifestait avec 200 personnes environ devant le tribunal
d’Istanbul aux cris de “L’Etat meurtrier rendra des comptes”.

Le procès a ete ajourne au 3 decembre.

Ece Toksabay, Henri-Pierre Andre pour le service francais, edite par
Gilles Trequesser

BEZIERS : ARTYON, NELLI ET LEURS TROIS ENFANTS SE RETROUVENT A LA RUE

Midi Libre, France
17 sept 2013

JEAN-PHILIPPE JUAN

Un couple d’Armeniens et leurs trois enfants n’ont pas de solutions
d’hebergement. Ils dorment dehors depuis le debut du mois.

À la rue. Lui, c’est Artyon, 26 ans. Elle, Nelli, 24 ans. Ce couple
d’Armeniens est en France depuis plus d’un an, arrive d’abord
a Montpellier par l’intermediaire d’un passeur russe. C’est dans
l’Herault qu’est nee la petite dernière, elle a 1 an aujourd’hui. Sa
grande s~ur en a 3 et l’aîne 4 ans.

Droit d’asile refuse

Toute cette famille dort dehors depuis le debut du mois depuis qu’une
demande de droit d’asile adressee a la cour nationale lui a ete
refusee. “Normalement, la famille aurait dû l’avoir très rapidement”,
detaille Celia Rinaldi, de la Cimade de Beziers.

Au plateau des Poètes

La structure d’accueil qui les recevaient a Montpellier a dû leur
demander de partir. Des concitoyens les ont alors conduits a Beziers
le 2 septembre. Pour seul bagage, le couple possède la poussette de
la petite dernière et un simple sac, dans lequel il garde passeport,
papier et carte de credit. La Cimade a eu vent de cette affaire
mercredi dernier, le 11 septembre.

Elle a appris que les premières nuits biterroises d’Artyon et de Nelli
se sont passees dans la rue, en plein Plateau des poètes. “Lorsqu’ils
sont venus nous voir, a 22 h, on leur a trouve un hôtel.” La solidarite
s’est alors developpee pour financer une chambre.

L’hôtel fait credit

L’hôtel a meme accepte de faire credit, un temps. Hier, toute la
journee, Celia Rinaldi s’est battue et debattue pour trouver un lit.

Elle s’est rendue, avec les Armeniens, au foyer de l’Abes,
l’association biterroise entraide solidarit, en vain, sachant que le
centre n’accueillait pas de mineurs..

Quel financement

Ensuite, direction l’hôtel de ville où elle voulait voir le maire. “Je
serais le maire de Beziers, j’aurai honte de voir des enfants
dormir dans la rue” s’insurge Celia Rinaldi, faisant reference aux
“appartements vides de l’office public de l’habitat”. Les mediateurs
de la mairie sont alles a leur rencontre et leur ont demande d’aller
a l’hôtel. La question du financement n’avait pas ete evoquee et
aujourd’hui, le combat devrait se poursuivre.

À Montpellier, l’aîne etait scolarise l’an dernier. Sa s~ur devait
prendre la suite il y a quelques jours. Les larmes de Nelli, elles
sont pour ses deux enfants, prives d’ecole.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress