Month: February 2015

THOUSANDS OF GEORGIAN ARMENIANS ILLEGALLY BECAME ARMENIAN CITIZENS

02.10.2015 18:05 epress.am

Five thousand Georgian cotizens of Armenian decent became citizens
of the Republic of Armenia, keeping it secret from the Georgian
authorities. They made this decision in order to migrate to Russia
for work, reports Rustavi 2 television station.

However, as a result of receiving Armenian citizenship, they lost their
Georgian citizenship, because, according to the Georgian Constitution,
citizens lose their citizenship immediately after receiving citizenship
of another country. In order to have dual citizenship, it is necessary
to apply to the Georgian president.

Echo of the Caucasus (ekhokavkaza.com) radio station, while citing
local media, states that residents of the Armenian-populated Javakheti
have started a petition directed by former Georgian MP Melik Raisyan in
order to solve the issue. Residents are asking to be able to continue
to reside in Georgia without having citizenship.

not only work, but also illegal voting in Armenia

In June of 2013, it was reported that adjacent to the Georgian
Ministry of Justice, the Public Services Development Agency found
out that more than 30,000 citizens have become citizens of another
country without informing the authorities.

Afterwards, certain organizations, like Russia’s Javakhk Diaspora
organization had asked the Georgian authorities for amnesty in regards
to their dual passports. The appeal letter stated that due to poverty
and lack of employment in the Samtskhe-Javakhetsi province, Armenians
are forced to leave for seasonal labor outside Georgia’s borders,
mainly to Russia. However, in 2008 Georgia ruptured diplomatic
relations with Russia, while the region’s Armenian residents are
forced to use Armenia’s dual citizenship option.

Earlier, Georgia’s Public Services Development Agency had sent a
letter to those with second citizenship, stating that their Georgian
citizenship is illegal. The state’s Ministry of Justice has told all
citizens to apply to the Agency in order to obtain dual citizenship.

In May of 2012, “Armenia Without Electoral Falsifications” civil
initiative had applied to the Armenian National Security Service,
asking them to publish a list of the number of citizens and their
passport information who had crossed into Armenia from Georgia from May
3 to 5. The initiative had expressed worry that citizens were brought
in from Georgia to Armenia to vote in the parliamentary elections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KIDNAPPED AND BEATEN ACTIVIST HAS SUPPOSITIONS REGARDING ATTACK BUT DOESN’T WISH TO SPEAK

02.10.2015 17:13 epress.am

The Turnover Tax law protest participant, Prosperous Armenia Party
(BHK) political councilor Artak Khachatryan, who was kidnapped and
beaten on February 7, has suppositions about the incident, which he
currently does not wish to speak about. Khachatryan told Azatutyun
radio during an interview that he was suddenly attacked by masked men,
who threw him into a car, and beat him up after driving somewhere
for a few hours.

“Then they brought me to some deserted place, and left me. When I
asked passersby, I understood that I was in the outskirts of (Nor)
Nork’s 8th district,” said Khachatryan.

He noted that he had a difficult time entering transportation, because
taxis or minibuses, seeing his bloody condition, did not stop for him.

“I walked quite a way, then in semi-consciousness I somehow stopped
a minibus,” said the activist.

When asked if he would continue to be involved in public movements,
Khachatryan responded saying he would be even more active.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TO VISIT IRAN

February 10, 2015 17:23

Speaker of the Armenian parliament Galust Sahakyan will visit Iran
in late February, IRNA agency reported quoting Iranian Parliament
speaker’s Advisor for International Affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam.

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 10, ARTSAKHPRESS: During a four-day visit,
Sahakyan will meet with high-ranking officials in Iran and discuss
various issues especially development of bilateral relations.

From: Baghdasarian

ARTSAKH CARPETS ARE EXPORTED TO THE UNITED STATES

February 4, 2015 15:14

“Karabakh Carpet” company is planning to open a new workshop in
Kovsakan town of Kashatagh region.

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: In the interview with
“Artsakhpress”, the director of “Karabakh Carpet” company Sevak
Khachatryan noted, that the new workshop was scheduled to go into
operation within 2-3 months after finishing its construction works.

“During the period of 2013-2014, a total of 5 workshops have been
opened in different regions of Artsakh. The overall number of our
employees exceeds 170,” said the director.

Turning to the issue of product sales, Sevak Khachatryan stressed the
importance of the functioning of “Karabakh Carpet” company Brand Stores
in Yereven. Therefore, the works of Artsakh carpet-makers are presented
not only in Armenia, but also to lots of tourists visiting our country.

“We export our products mainly to United States, where Armenian
Diaspora compatriots support us in sale of carpets. The orders from
different countries of the world are also taken. Due to on-line store,
operating on our official website, we receive orders as well,” he said.

According to Sevak Khachatryan, the company’s production activities
are based on a strong foundation, which guarantees high quality
products. The next step will be improving the marketing policy, in
order “Karabakh Carpet” company’s products to be properly presented
in international markets.

From: Baghdasarian

NKR MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS RECEIVED STUDENTS OF RUSSIAN NATIONAL RESEARCH TOMSK STATE UNIVERSITY

2015-02-06 18:15

On February 6, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic Karen Mirzoyan received a group of postgraduate students
of the Russian National Research Tomsk State University, which had
arrived in Artsakh in the framework of the Winter School initiated by
the “Russian-Armenian Cooperation” Organization and supported by the
“Russia in Global Affairs” journal.

The Foreign Minister presented the main directions of the NKR foreign
policy to the students, as well as touched upon the process of peaceful
settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
in the context of the regional and global developments.

Karen Mirzoyan noted the importance of the Winter School participants’
visit to Artsakh in forming an objective and unbiased picture of the
political processes in the NKR, as well as for establishing contacts
with representatives of the scientific circles of Artsakh.

The Foreign Minister also answered the questions of the participants.

Chairman of the “Russian-Armenian Cooperation” Organization Yuri
Navoyan participated in the meeting as well.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

THE NKR MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS RECEIVED THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE “MUSIC FOR PEACE” PROJECT

2015-02-06 14:26

On February 6, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic Karen Mirzoyan received the participants of the international
benevolent project “Music for Peace”, who had arrived in Artsakh in
the framework of their tour around the South Caucasus.

During the meeting, the musicians presented the goals of the
project, noting that through charity concerts and master-classes in
post-conflict zones they contributed to the strengthening of peace.

Karen Mirzoyan, in turn, noted that art doesn’t recognize borders and
stressed the importance of such projects aimed at bringing together
people of different political and religious views.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

LA COMMUNAUTE JUIVE DE TURQUIE AGITE, UNE FOIS ENCORE, LE CHIFFON ROUGE !

ERDOGAN DEFORME LE TALMUD POUR DEMONISER LES JUIFS !

Turquie

Le Ministre des Affaires etrangères Ahmet Davutoglu s’en est pris a la
communaute juive turque dimanche dans une reference a peine voilee au
>. Il tenait discours devant des elus locaux. Lors de
son discours il a critique cette >

Le 31 Janvier, Erdogan avait declare lors d’une reunion des chefs
d’entreprise a Istanbul, que >

From: Baghdasarian

LE LIVRE DE KADIR MISIROGLU > EST UN LIVRE NEGATIONNISTE DE PLUS

TURQUIE-NEGATIONNISME

La Turquie n’epargne pas ses efforts en moyens financiers importants et
ouvertement negationnistes pour contrer > en cette annee du 100ème anniversaire du genocide. Le dernier
element de cette campagne orchestree par Ankara est la sortie du livre
de Kadir Misiroglu > (La question
armenienne et les violences de l’histoire jusqu’a nos jours).

L’auteur dedie l’ouvrage a president turc Recep Erdogan. Le livre
reserve l’un de ses chapitres aux combats de l’Artsakh et des
evènements de Khodjali. Bien evidemment K. Misiroglu nie l’existence
du genocide armenien mais affirme que ce sont les Armeniens qui ont
commis des actes violents contre les Turcs et les Azeris. En somme,
un livre qui traduit une nouvelle fois la position officielle de
la Turquie qui est encore loin de revisiter serieusement les pages
sombres de son histoire, un siècle après les crimes.

Krikor Amirzayan

mardi 10 fevrier 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

ARAM I: THE GUARDIAN OF THE CAUSE

February 10, 2015

By Dania Ohanian

The international conference on the Armenian Genocide: from recognition
to reparation, took place at the Catholicosate of Cilicia, in
Antelias, Lebanon, from February 23-25, 2012. The philosophy of such
a thought-provoking conference flew academicians from around the world
and was organized by His Holiness Aram I, a visionary church leader.

The objective of the conference was to bring experts from around
the world to cogitate the legal dimensions of reparations for the
Armenian Genocide. Why a religious institution was to organize a
conference with a topic on reparations? His Holiness Aram I wrote
in the International Criminal Law Review[1] “Human rights are not
optional; they are integral to Christianity. What is more, human
rights are essential to the vocation of church institutions. Human
rights in general and the Armenian Genocide in particular are part of
the missionary calling of the Armenian Church and occupy, therefore,
an important place on its agenda.”

The conference on “Recognition to Reparation” validated that this
indispensable issue is crucial to collectively be addressed in the
circles of scholars and specialists.

Armenian Communities around the world are preparing to commemorate
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24,
2015. The sobering experience of the Genocide, the profound shock
will reverberate and hundred years of continued denial will yield on
into the future.

In September 2014, His Holiness Aram I shocked the world during his
dynamic and courageous speech at the Fifth Armenia-Diaspora Conference
in the capital city Yerevan, Armenia. “The Great House of Cilicia will
soon petition to Turkey’s Constitutional Court to demand the return
of Sis Catholicosate to its owner, namely the Armenian Church and
Armenian people. We can not remain indifferent to the violated rights
of our nation, as indifference is treason,” His Holiness said. The
Catholicos gave the Armenian Nation a hope for the future by bravely
announcing that He has chosen to embark on a new challenge with an
extraordinary resilience.

The idealistic church leader writes in the International Criminal Law
Review “Church properties represent a central and unique place in any
reparative process. Both spiritually and culturally, the church has
for almost two millennia been at the center of Armenian existence and
identity. Thus, the return of church lands and buildings, particularly
consecrated churches, is perhaps the most meaningful starting point
for the restoration of Armenian identity.”

Far from cause for satisfaction, this claim only highlights the tragedy
of a Nation and seeks justice beyond retribution. Is retribution
included in Transitional Justice?[2] This petition will make wider
claims about the mechanisms of Transitional Justice and will intend
to integrate researchers who concentrate on issues of legal transition
and institutions and mechanisms of “dealing with the past”.

It is indisputable, that His Holiness Aram I will warmly welcome and
encourage any assistance by policy makers addressing decision making
and legitimacy issues.

[1] International Criminal Law Review, Volume 14, No. 2, 2014,
Special Issue, Armenian Genocide Reparations

[2] Transitional Justice has become an increasing field of research
and academic discussion during the decades after World War II. What
originally was a subject mainly for historians and lawyers has now
become a field for sociologists and political scientists.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND ETHNIC CLEANSING IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

February 10, 2015

The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and
Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire.

Taner Akcam

Co-Winner of the 2013 Albert Hourani Book Award, Middle East Studies

One of ForeignAffairs.com’s Best Books on the Middle East

Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret Ottoman documents,
this book demonstrates in unprecedented detail that the Armenian
Genocide and the expulsion of Greeks from the late Ottoman Empire
resulted from an official effort to rid the empire of its Christian
subjects. Presenting these previously inaccessible documents along
with expert context and analysis, Taner Akcam’s most authoritative work
to date goes deep inside the bureaucratic machinery of Ottoman Turkey
to show how a dying empire embraced genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Although the deportation and killing of Armenians was internationally
condemned in 1915 as a “crime against humanity and civilization,”
the Ottoman government initiated a policy of denial that is still
maintained by the Turkish Republic. The case for Turkey’s “official
history” rests on documents from the Ottoman imperial archives, to
which access has been heavily restricted until recently. It is this
very source that Akcam now uses to overturn the official narrative.

The documents presented here attest to a late-Ottoman policy
of Turkification, the goal of which was no less than the radical
demographic transformation of Anatolia. To that end, about one-third
of Anatolia’s 15 million people were displaced, deported, expelled,
or massacred, destroying the ethno-religious diversity of an ancient
cultural crossroads of East and West, and paving the way for the
Turkish Republic.

By uncovering the central roles played by demographic engineering and
assimilation in the Armenian Genocide, this book will fundamentally
change how this crime is understood and show that physical destruction
is not the only aspect of the genocidal process.

Taner Akcam, the first scholar of Turkish origin to publicly
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, holds the Kaloosdian and Mugar
Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University. His many
books include A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question
of Turkish Responsibility (Metropolitan Books).

Review:

“Akcam has long courted controversy in Turkey, where he was jailed as
a student activist in the 1970s before claiming asylum in Germany,
but his intellectual courage is beyond question. Moreover, while
Turkey’s official account of what happened in 1915 is unchanged,
Turkish public and intellectual opinion is now much more open to
debate. This dispassionate, scholarly study is a valuable contribution
to help that debate move on.”–Delphine Strauss, Financial Times

“[T]he fact that a Turkish historian with access to the
Ottoman archives has written this book is of immeasurable
significance.”–Foreign Affairs

“Akcam has long been the most vocal Turkish scholars regarding the
Ottoman participation in genocidal acts against Armenians. Here, using
Ottoman archival sources, the author makes his case that the Young Turk
government had planned prior to WWI to remove the empire’s Christian
and no-Turkish Muslim population. . . . The author’s discussion of
the removal and execution of the Armenians is extremely detailed and
well documented, and his usage of Ottoman sources, although questioned
by Turkish nationalist scholars, is a very important addition to the
study of this issue.”–Choice

“[A] major breakthrough in the our understanding of the social
engineering that led to the near destruction of the Armenians of
Anatolia, and of the dual-track mechanism for organizing it that
the Young Turks employed. . . . [A] must for serious scholars of the
Armenian Genocide.”–John M. Evans, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia
(2004-2006), American Diplomacy

“Taner Akcam’s study represents a giant step forward. He produced a
most important book, all the more so because the ideology of Islamism
has endured, and most recently some of its outstanding proponents
have seized power in the Middle East.”–Dr. Wolfgang G. Schwanitz,
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East