Month: February 2015

TURKISH-ARMENIANS’ ANSWER TO GULEN

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

MARKAR ESAYAN

On Feb. 11, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a long meeting with
the administrators of more than 50 nongovernmental organizations at
Ankara Palas Hotel, a historic place located in Turkey’s capital. This
meeting was significant since all the participants were non-Muslims
living in Turkey. As an Armenian writer and journalist, I was also
present at the meeting. The scheduled duration of the meeting was
an hour and a half. However, the delegation of Davutoglu and some
ministers maintained it for over four hours. Each participant spoke
during the event. Both the positive developments and the problems
that need to be resolved were discussed.

The participants were the representatives of foundations, associations,
nongovernmental organizations and journals belonging to minority
communities in Turkey including Armenians, Jews, Roma, Syriacs,
Bulgarians and Maronites. They have the competence to represent
their own communities, address the state for years and are closely
acquainted with the issues of their communities. All of them shared
the excitement of the positive changes in favor of them that have taken
place within the last 13 years. Everyone expressed their appreciation
of this change and gave thanks for it. Davutoglu’s opening speech
was like a manifesto. Previously, a Christmas lunch was organized
for religious leaders of non-Muslim communities on Jan. 2.

And this was the civilian phase of this agenda.

Davutoglu said that they never accepted the segregationist and hostile
attitude of the former state regime – which used to boast of being
Kemalist, modern and secular – against non-Muslims, adding that they
did not discriminate between citizens regardless of their religion,
language or sect and always tried to reflect this concern in their
policies. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government
overcame and reformed many segregationist practices inherited from
this former regime. Davutoglu sincerely pointed out that they did
not “grant” these reformations, but they saw them as a duty that was
supposed to be done already, adding that they did not expect anything
in return.

He also said it was not possible to approve or remain silent to the
bitter experiences such as the vandalisms targeting non-Muslims on
Sept. 6-7, 1955, underlining that they remembered those violent acts
with pain in their hearts. Davutoglu also indicated that one of the
most significant steps leading to the path for this positive change
was the official condolence message for the 1915 incidents issued
by then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on April 23, 2014, which
was the indicator of a new period for Turkey, according to Davutoglu.

Davutoglu also issued a condolence message on Jan. 19, 2015, the
eighth year commemoration of the assassination of Hrant Dink.

All the participants took the floor respectively during the meeting.

Davutoglu, ministers and advisors noted each demand. Many rights
remaining from Ottoman times and guaranteed by the Lausanne Treaty were
violated during the Kemalist regime. The most devastating of them was
the practice of seizing property called the 1935 Declaration. With
this, the most valuable properties of 167 minority foundations were
seized, returned to their former owners without charge, or registered
as a state commodity. The target was to eradicate the foundations
that conserved the vital institutions of minorities.

The AK Party attempted to abolish this law in 2005, but it was blocked
by the “modern and secular” Republican People’s Party (CHP). In
2008, while the new law was being negotiated, Parliament witnessed
some embarrassing remarks by the opposition CHP and the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP). They were saying the AK Party was “bothering
itself for the properties of Agop” in an insulting tone. When reforms
passed into law thanks to the AK Party’s votes, the CHP applied to
the Constitutional Court to repeal the legislation. In the name of
justice, a religious party was saying that “the state cannot steal
from its own citizens regardless of their identity or religion.

Rather, it is supposed to protect their interests.”

For this very reason, a majority of Armenians have been voting for the
AK Party for the last 13 years. For 99 years, we could not commemorate
the victims of the 1915 incidents on April 24 in our country due to
prohibitions. This ban was also lifted last year. Thanks to Erdogan’s
message of condolence, we were able to commemorate our losses in our
churches and cemeteries without fear or worry for the first time last
year. Fethullah Gulen was defeated in the power struggle he had with
the government. In order to cover the fact that they were actually
struggling for sovereignty, he claimed that non-Muslims, Kurds and
Alevis were suppressed in Turkey in an article he wrote for The New
York Times. His claims were simply misleading.

People with different beliefs have been experiencing the freest,
most dignified and glorious days of their lives during the period
of AK Party rule for the last 13 years. We have to stand behind this
truth in order to be fair. No matter what Gulen fights for, it is not
our fight. Manipulating and subverting the pain of April 24 and the
positive changes in recent years is the greatest form of disrespect
to our losses and acquisitions. It would be good to reveal the truth.

ARMENIA HALTS RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT WITH TURKEY

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 17 2015

YEREVAN – The Associated Press

The Armenian president has said he has asked the country’s
parliamentary speaker to withdraw his signature from a groundbreaking
2009 agreement with Turkey meant to restore ties between the two
nations.

President Serzh Sargsyan said in a statement yesterday that Armenia
would not ratify the agreement because of the “preconditions” that
Turkey is putting in place before it ratifies its part of the deal.

The agreement aims to restore diplomatic ties between the countries
as well as reopen the common border, which has been closed since
1993. It was brokered by the United States and other nations.

The move comes in a year that Armenia is remembering the mass killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman era in 1915, 100 years ago.

The relations between the leaders of both countries is tense with
recent remarks on the issue.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Armenia Feb. 10 to
examine the 1915 events through the lens of “science, not politics,”
criticizing the rejection of Ankara’s invitation to representatives
of the country to attend war commemoration ceremonies in Turkey.

In January, the Turkish president sent invitation letters to more
than 100 leaders, including Sargsyan, to participate in ceremonies on
April 24 marking the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli in Canakkale.

The ceremonies in Canakkale were rearranged this year to coincide
with Armenia’s traditional day of remembrance for the Armenian victims
of 1915.

Sargsyan denounced Erdogan’s invitation as a “short-sighted” attempt
to overshadow the massacres of Ottoman Armenians.

“We would like them to come and be in Canakkale on April 24,
to breathe in that atmosphere and try to understand that happened
among our hundreds of thousands of martyrs. But they won’t do that,”
Erdogan said.

February/16/2015

From: A. Papazian

BAKU CALLS FOR SERIOUS TALKS OVER CONFLICT IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Feb 17 2015

17 February 2015, 15:13 (GMT+04:00)
By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Azerbaijan is ready to start serious negotiations to prepare a draft
peace agreement on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, said a top
Azerbaijani official.

Elmar Mammadyarov, Foreign Minister, exchanged views with Co-Chairman
of the Minsk Group of Organization for Security and Cooperation Igor
Popov (Russia), Pierre Andrieu (France), and James Warlick (US), and
Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman Andrzej Kasprzyk during
talks on the negotiation process to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict, in Baku on February 16 .

Focusing on the ceasefire violation, Mammadyarov called on the
mediators to urge Armenia to liberate the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan based on international law and four UN Security Council
resolutions as the first step of the settlement process.

“The withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani
territories will be an important step to resolve the conflict and to
build trust between the sides,” he said.

Mammadyarov underlined an urgent need to start serious negotiations
on the draft peace agreement.

“Azerbaijan is ready for these negotiations,” he said.

The sides also discussed the schedule of actions to start working on
a peace agreement.

Meanwhile, Pierre Andrieu, French Co-Chairman, said the Minsk Group
mediators will do everything to reduce tension in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

“We hope that the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia will keep on
meeting in the future. We would like the presidents to meet during
the upcoming summit of the UN General Assembly in September. The final
decisions are usually made by the presidents. We are trying to play a
mediation role. It is not easy, but we are moving in this direction,”
he noted.

Andrieu added that the Minsk Group co-chairmen will soon visit
member-states of the Minsk Group, including Belarus, Serbia and Italy.

He also talked about the recent negotiations in Helsinki through
the invitation of the Finnish foreign minister. Andrieu said the
middlemen informed the Finnish side about the current situation in
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

Andriue revealed the plan of the co-chairmen to meet with
representatives of the Red Cross in Baku and Yerevan as part of the
current visit to the region.

“We would like the Red Cross to start working over the hostages issue
as soon as possible, because thousands of families want to know about
their relatives. It is a sensitive topic, being a part of the measures
for rapprochement and understanding,” he said.

Touching upon the conflict in Ukraine, Andrieu noted that it does not
affect the coordination of the OSCE Minsk Group and the co-chairmen
are working as they did before.

As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied
20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and
seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently
holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions
on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

From: A. Papazian

NEW BILLBOARDS COMMEMORATE GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

Tuesday, February 17th, 2015

One of the billboards commemorating the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide in Massachusetts

BY ROSARIO TEIXEIRA

BOSTON–On Feb. 14, Peace of Art, Inc. added three new billboards
in commemoration of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide in the
Boston area. The new digital billboards are different from the others
in design but similar with concept. All the billboards commemorate
the centennial of the Armenian Genocide and pay tribute to the victims.

Two digital billboards are located in Foxboro, and the third one is
located in Peabody, Mass.

Against a black background, one billboard reads “1915-2015 the
Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letters “O” and “C” in the
word “Genocide” are combined to form a red heart with a bite. The
heart symbolizes the heart of a nation, and the bite symbolizes 1.5
million innocent lives carved off a nation, whose wounds are still
bleeding through generations.

The other digital billboard reads “I Remember and I Demand 1915-2015
the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.” The letter “O” in the word
“Genocide” is a purple forget-me-not, the official Armenian Genocide
centennial symbol. The flower has five petals which represent the five
continents where genocide survivors settled and rebuilt their lives.

Also represents the pain shared by Armenians around the world united
with their demands for recognition and justice.

“Since January 2015, Peace of Art, Inc., has displayed ten billboards
in the United States. Chicago, Seattle, Peabody, Sharon and Foxboro,
and will continue to display electronic billboards throughout the
United States during the year 2015,” said Peace of Art founding
president Daniel Varoujan Hejinian.

PRESS RELEASE
ARS of Western USA, Inc.
Regional Office
517 W. Glenoaks Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91202-2812
Tel: 818-500-1343
Fax: 818-242-3732
Email: [email protected]
Web:
FB:

Support ARS Javakhk Fund Programs

The ARS Javakhk Fund Committee, cognizant of the determination of the
communities in Javakhk (Georgia) to preserve the Armenian heritage,
has organized an annual cruise and lecture programs to spread the word
and raise funds to support programs in Javakhk.

A dinner cruise is scheduled for Sunday, March 1, 2015, from Newport
Beach harbor. Professor Ashot Melkonyan, a native of Javakhk and
historian in Armenia will be the guest speaker.

Honorary guests of the Sunday evening cruise are Mr. Alec &
Dr. Alenoush Baghdassarian. “Our community and nation are fortunate to
have individuals such as Alec and Alenoush Baghdassarian who sponsor
and contribute to many important causes. They are not only kind,
selfless and humble but are visionaries,” said Lena Bozoyan, ARS
Javakhk Fund Committee Chairperson. “Their everlasting love for our
homeland and our people are exemplary.’More Info
()

Prof. Melkonyan will also lecture about the “Past, Present and Future
of Javakhk” in Glendale ()
and San Francisco ():

On Friday, March 6, 2015 at 7 p.m., at the Glendale Central Library,
222 E.Harvard St., Glendale, Calif.

On Sunday, March 8, 2015, following Church Services (around 1:30
p.m.), Vasbouragan Hall,51 Commonwealth Ave., San Francisco, Calif.

Armenian Relief Society of Western USA, Regional Executive

()

ARS Mid-Year Presentations Reinvigorate Members

The ARS Regional Executive presented a look back and a look ahead to
the ARS membership on the west coast with a 2-week long tour, starting
with a presentation to members from more than a dozen Los Angeles area
chapters at the Pasadena Armenian Center, and after stops in San
Francisco, and Fresno, the tour was completed in Laguna Niguel in
South Orange County. Read More
() Armenian
() Photographs
()

()

The ARS Anahid and Lori Chapters celebrated the feast of the
Presentation of the Lord to the Temple, known as Diarenuntarach
(Õ?Õ¥Õ¡Õ¼Õ¶Õ¨Õ¶Õ¤Õ¡Õ¼Õ¡Õ»)
together

()

The ARS Arax Chapter Friday School of South Bay held a program to
celebrate Vartanants — the heros of the Battle of Avarayr (451 AD)

()

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day

ARS Anahid Chapter of San Fernando Valley, Calif. celebrated Martin
Luther King Jr.’s Day by holding a lunch-lecture event on January 19,
2015, in Encino, Calif. Seta Krikorian spoke about Human Rights,
Dr. King’s legacy and Hrant Dink. Proceeds were donated to the ARS
Regional Executive.Read More in Armenian
()

Breakfast Fundraiser for ARS Schools

The School Board of Regents breakfast fundraiser will take place on
Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 10 a.m. at the ARSRegional Headquarters, in
Glendale, Calif.

Chapter Events

Wedensday, February 18, Encino: Anahid Chapter Arevakal (Pagyal
Khoran) Luncheon ()

Saturday, March 7, at 10 a.m., Van Nuys: Meghry Chapter Michink
(Mid-Lent) Luncheon ()

Saturday, March 7, at 10:30 a.m., Glendale: SepanChapter Fashion Show
()

Wednesday, March 11, at 11 a.m., Pasadena: Sosse & Talin Chapters
jointly celebrate Michink (Mid Lent) Luncheon
()

Sunday, March 15, at 1 p.m., Encino: Anahid Chapter Mid-Lent Luncheon
()

Sunday, May 10, Pasadena: Sosse Chapter’s 40th Anniversary

()

Requiem Services for Past ARS Members & Benefactors

Requiem Services will be held at various churches in memory of past
ARS members and benefactors. Some chapters continue to serve “madagh”
(food served in their memory) such as the ARS Anahid, Meghry and Sepan
Chapters. Other chapters serve desserts.

()

Under the auspices of the ARS Central Executive Board, Genocide
Centennial commemorations will be held in New York City, from March 5
to 6, 2015. The ARS of Eastern USA will hold a commemorative event on
March 7, 2015, in North Bergen, New Jersey.

()

LA 5K Run/Walk & Marathon

Run or walk with the ARS team in memory of the 1.5 Armenian Genocide
martyrs and raise funds for the ARS.

The Los Angeles 5K Run/Walk (3.1 miles) will be held on Saturday,
March 14, 2015 at 8 a.m. at Dodger Stadium. Departure will be at 6:30
a.m. from the ARS Regional Headquarters.

The 26.2 mile LA Marathon will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2015,
starting at 7:28 a.m. at Dodger Stadium and ending at the intersection
of Ocean Avenue and California Avenue in Santa Monica. Half Marathon
relay positions are also available through the ARS.

()

Gala Celebration

Join us for our annual gala celebration on Friday, May 15, 2015 at the
Sheraton Universal,333 Universal Hollywood Dr., Universal City, Calif.

517 W. Glenoaks Blvd. | Glendale, CA 91202-2812 US
Phone: (818) 500-1343 | Fax: (818) 242-3732
Website:
Email: [email protected]

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: February 17, 2015
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Telephone: (202) 393-3434
Email: [email protected]
Web:

ASSEMBLY TO HOLD ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SYMPOSIUM AT ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING IN
FLORIDA

Symposium Will Take Place in Boca Raton on Saturday, March 14, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) is pleased
to announce the speakers for the Armenian Genocide Symposium that will take
place during the Annual Members Meeting weekend in Boca Raton, Florida,
March 13-14, 2015. Entitled `A Century of Genocide: The 1915 Armenian
Genocide & Its Lasting Impact,” the symposium will feature Dr. Rouben
Adalian, Dr. Rosanna Gatens, and Hannibal Travis.

Dr. Adalian will present on the topic `The Armenian Genocide as a Prototype
of 20th Century Mass Killings.’ Dr. Gatens will discuss `The Impact of the
Armenian Genocide on Holocaust Education,’ and Hannibal Travis will present
`The Armenian Genocide as a Political & Illegal Crime.’ Assembly Trustee
Marta Batmasian will moderate the discussion.

The Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 1:00 PM to
3:00 PM.

Dr. Rouben P. Adalian is the Director of the Armenian National Institute
(ANI) in Washington, DC. He is the editor of The Armenian Genocide in the
U.S. Archives 1915-1918 and its accompanying Guide and associate editor of
the Encyclopedia of Genocide. Adalian is also the author of From
Humanism to Rationalism: Armenian Scholarship in the Nineteenth Century
and Historical Dictionary of Armenia and has contributed to Genocide in
Our Time; Studies in Comparative Genocide; America and the Armenian
Genocide; and Centuries of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness
Accounts. He is a specialist on the Caucasus and the Middle East, and has
taught at a number of universities, including George Washington University,
Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. He received a Ph.D. in
history from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Rosanna M. Gatens is the Director of the Center for Holocaust and Human
Rights Education (CHHRE) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca
Raton, Florida. Dr. Gatens is a specialist in the social and intellectual
history of Germany, especially during the era of the Weimar Republic and
the Third Reich. Dr. Gatens has written about the collapse of academic
freedom in German universities during the 1920s, the anti-fascist and
anti-militarist campaigns of the German League for Human Rights during the
interwar years, and racism as a component of National Socialism. Her
research and writing in the area of Holocaust education focuses on the
effectiveness of particular teaching and learning strategies for high
school and college students. Dr. Gatens is a member of the Florida Task
Force on Holocaust Education and a member of the Save Darfur Coalition of
South Palm Beach.

Hannibal Travis is a Professor of Law at Florida International University
(FIU) College of Law in Miami, Florida. He has published widely on Ottoman
Turkey’s Christian genocide, freedom of expression, religious freedom in
the contemporary Middle East, and human rights in Africa. Travis wrote the
first comprehensive legal history of genocide in the Middle East and North
Africa, entitled Genocide in the Middle East: The Ottoman Empire, Iraq,
and Sudan. His second book, entitled Genocide, Ethnonationalism, and the
United Nations: Exploring the Causes of Mass Killing Since 1945,
undertakes the first in-depth exploration of the causes of genocide and
politicide using the U.N. archives.

The Assembly’s Armenian Genocide Symposium will be held at the Marriott
Hotel at Boca Town Center, 5150 Town Center Circle, Boca Raton, FL 33486 on
Saturday, March 14, 2015 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. Guests that are travelling
from out of town should call (561) 392-4600 to reserve a room at the
Armenian Assembly’s reduced rate of $169.00 per night.

To register for the Symposium or additional information please contact
Assembly South Florida Regional Council Chair Carol Norigian at
[email protected].

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR: # 2015-009
Available online at:

Talysh Identity and Geopolitics in the South Caucasus
By Bradley Jardine
2/17/2015

In Azerbaijan, a sensitive debate is being reintroduced to the
political foreground: `Did Talyshistan belong to the Azerbaijan
Republic? And if not can the current Republic of Azerbaijan
legitimately claim the region as its sovereign territory?’ Although
this seems like an academic question, debated in the confines of
history departments; the discussion is loaded with geopolitical
baggage. Due to the vast number of ethnic groups and language
communities living side by side in the small, mountainous region of
the Caucasus, local disputes are often manipulated by regional powers
keen to either exploit, or hinder the Caucasus’s potential as both an
energy producer and transit corridor linking European markets with
Asia. Still, it came as a surprise to many when last week, the Russian
news agency IAREX published an article by the Talysh nationalist
leader Fakhraddin Aboszoda. As one might expect, Aboszoda uses the
article to argue in favour of Talysh national self-determination,
claiming that Baku has no sovereign right to Talysh lands. But why are
his views suddenly gaining traction in Russian newspapers? In the
South Caucasus, historical narratives are often used as geopolitical
weapons.

Context

Azerbaijan’s Talysh population are a Persian-speaking community
concentrated in the south of the country along the Iranian border,
with their capital in Lenkoran. The group has a history of
Russian-backed resistance to Baku. The Bolsheviks established the
Mughan Soviet Republic as a communist puppet state in 1919, with the
raison d’état of undermining the democratic Musavat government of
Azerbaijan. In 1993 again, amidst the chaos of post-soviet political
transition, Russia backed a separatist movement: the `Talysh-Mughan
Autonomous Republic’ led by Alikram Humbatov. This pseudo-state was
quickly dissolved three months later during Heydar Aliyev’s
consolidation of power. Aboszoda is himself steeped in controversy
because of his involvement with this would-be separatist state, and
furthermore, he recently argued that Azerbaijan functioned as a
miniature empire. This debate was expanded, and backed by researchers
at the Kremlin-connected think-tank, the Russian Institute for
Strategic Studies (RISI). There’s no data showing how well his views
are supported or opposed by ordinary Talysh, yet this hasn’t stopped
the Russian Federation and Armenia from involving themselves in other
recent `provocations’ of Talysh minorities.

On November 29th 2014, a television station calling itself `The
National Television of Talyshton,’ began broadcasting in Azerbaijan
under the direction of Talysh poet Zabig Madozh. The station adopted
the Russian Cyrillic script, rather than the Perso-Arabic script
typical of Talysh nationalists. Aboszoda again made a controversial
appearance, being picked as a presenter. The other host was
Zakhiraddin Ibragimi, the chairman of the Committee for the Defence of
the Rights of the Talysh. Then, in February 2007 the former
Talysh-Mughan Republic’s President Alikram Hummatov, made a guest
appearance at Yerevan State University for an event concerning the
preservation of the Talysh language.

During his speech at the University Hummatov said that: `In
Azerbaijan, the Talysh are deprived of basic rights. We are not
respected; we are being extirpated, with a policy of assimilation
being implemented against us.’ Some of his concerns are warranted. For
example, in lowland communities that were once homogenous and are now
becoming multi-ethnic, Azerbaijani is becoming the favoured language
for wider communication. In particular, children’s proficiency in
Talysh is reportedly declining, except in remote, mountain villages.

The Azeri regime predictably responded by cracking down on outspoken
individuals in the Talysh community. The day after Hummatov visited
the Armenian occupied territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azeri
government sentenced the editor of the newspaper `Tolyshi Sado (Voice
of the Talysh), Hilal Mammedov to five years in prison for trumped up
charges of `ethnic hatred’ and `drug-trafficking.’ This echoed an
earlier case in February 2007, when another of the paper’s editors,
Novruzali Mammadov, , was arrested and charged with treason, before
dying in 2009 due to lack of adequate prison healthcare.

More recently in 2013, a Talysh-language radio station, `The Voice of
Talyshstan,’ was launched in the Armenian occupied territories; a move
criticised by Baku as an attempt to stir up ethnic conflict. It began
broadcasting from the city of Shusha, in Nagorno-Karabakh on March
20th at the initiative of the Caucasus Centre of Iranian Studies at
the Modus Vivendi Centre. The station was founded by the Armenian
intellectual, Garnik Asatrian, who also established the Talysh Studies
program at Yerevan State University. Welcoming Hummatov, Asatrian
denied any accusations of ulterior motives behind Armenia’s interest
in Talysh minorities. Asatrian insisted that the department was merely
broadening its focus on Iranian studies. Armenian agitation of this
sort is nothing new. Armenian officials have a long history of denying
the existence of an `Azerbaijani’ nationality, altogether. But loose
arguments based on sweeping historically deterministic allegations
notwithstanding, the question still remains ` why now?

Geopolitical Anlaysis

Recently Paul Goble at the Jamestown Foundation wrote an article
questioning whether Moscow is putting the Talysh in play against
Azerbaijan. In it he suggests three possible reasons why Talysh
activists are rising in prominence. First, he suggests that by
supporting Talysh nationalist activities Moscow may be countering
Iranian activities in the region (i.e. the financing of Mosques).
Second, that Moscow might be trying to court Armenia after tensions
between the two countries have come to a fore over the murders in
Gyumri. Finally, that the `Kremlin’ is sending a `signal to Baku’ that
Russia has `resources within Azerbaijan’ and that they are ready to
use them `if Azerbaijan does not go along with Russia’s wishes.’

It’s worth exploring each one of these in-depth to see if they hold
any standing. Firstly, it should be noted that there’s an inordinate
amount of suspicion about Russian intentions vis-a-vis Azerbaijan and
an excessively exaggerated account of Russian abilities to act upon
them. The situation in Ukraine, and the recent treaty (read:
annexation) of South Ossetia has many analysts rightly unnerved. But
much of their suspicions regarding Russian relations with Azerbaijan
appear either fabricated or unduly influenced by the myriad of state
propaganda in the region. Unfortunately reporting on geopolitical
events of suspect importance in the Caucasus seems especially prone to
this particular brand of hyperbole.

Second, Azerbaijan is the key economic and military actor in the
Caucasus ` and Russia knows it. Its oil reserves have given the Aliyev
regime a degree of independence from outside meddling that Georgia and
Armenia simply haven’t been able to purchase. Since the completion of
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Azerbaijan’s GDP has grown year over
year at an unprecedented rate, reaching US $73 billion in 2013 (in
comparison: Georgia US $16 billion; Armenia US $10 billion). The
increase in oil revenues has sent Azeri military expenditures
skyrocketing to a record US $4.8 billion (mostly spent purchasing
Russian arms) and forced Armenia’s sickly economy to attempt to keep
pace. The situation is advantageous to Russia, because it keeps
Armenian national security dependent on Moscow’s support, and sends
capital flowing into the coffers of Russia’s military industrial
complex. With the Russian economy in a tailspin, it’s unlikely that
Putin would jeopardize lucrative arms deals with their southern
neighbor by overtly provoking some kind of Talysh separatist movement.
Further, Putin’s attempt to establish a Eurasian Economic Union would
be boosted significantly with Azeri cooperation and alienating the
regime seems like a sure way to jeopardize any future membership.

Third, unlike South Ossetia and Abkhazia ` there is no group in
Azerbaijan that would favor reunification with Russia and no sizable
Russian minority that Russia could intervene on behalf of. Quite the
contrary, Russia is already dealing with separatists in neighboring
Dagestan and Chechnya. Historically, Russia has favored stability in
the Caucasus to chaos, which is one reason why Russian authorities
tend to look favorably on the region’s strong-armed dictators who can
keep their constituent populations `in line.’ So given these
geopolitical considerations what are we to make of Goble’s three
propositions?

The first, that Russia is attempting to vie for influence vis-a-vis
Iran is not outside the realm of possibility. Moscow’s troubles with
Islamic separatists throughout the Caucasus are well-notedand it may
perceive Iran’s supposed support of the Talysh as threatening.
However, if this is indeed the case, it would seem that Russia’s best
option would be ensuring a stable secular regime in Baku ` not
attempting to undermine the one already there. The second possibility
that Russia is essentially performing a Public Relations coup in order
to repair relations with Armenia is questionable on several lines of
reasoning ` most important among them is the fact that much happened
before the Gyumri murders suggesting that if Russia is indeed involved
at all, there’s a longer strategy at play. The last possibility, that
Russia is sending a signal to Baku is the most difficult to refute but
also unlikely on several grounds which have already been mentioned `
namely that there are no sizable minorities in Azerbaijan that could
pose a significant threat to Baku.

With the aforementioned caution that much geopolitical analysis is
essentially guess work the following represents the most likely
scenario. In all probability there are many Talysh who are worried
about their loss of language and identity. There are equally likely
Talysh who resent the Aliyev regime’s brutal suppression of basic
freedoms ` just as there are many Azeris who feel the same way. Some
people within Armenia are undoubtedly stoking these concerns as part
of a much longer line of propaganda that tries to deny Azeri
nationality on questionable grounds. If Russia is indeed involved at
all, it is probably to provoke the Aliyev regime into further
crackdowns and human rights abuses. It’s partially Aliyev’s
willingness to continue to imprison journalists and anyone with
grievances that is keeping Azerbaijan from fully pursuing a Western
orientation (a la Georgia). Pursuing policies that don’t pose a real
threat to the stability of the regime, yet cause Aliyev to react in a
way that draws the ire of European and US institutions is an effective
strategy to keep Azerbaijan away from greater economic and political
integration with the West.

As is often the case, Russia’s relationship with post-Soviet minority
communities is both ambiguous, and highly pragmatic.

February 17, 2015

USC INSTITUTE OF ARMENIAN STUDIES
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
Contact: Salpi Ghazarian, Director
[email protected]
213.821.3943

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER GENOCIDE?

2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Ottoman
government’s systematic annihilation of its Armenian population. This
state violence came to be characterized as ‘genocide’ when the term
was coined several decades later, and the Armenian experience was used
as a justification for the need for such a term.

Both the event itself, as well as the ways in which it is depicted and
named, are the topic of many conferences, books, exhibits and other
events around the world this year. Among them, there is the just-
published book, Great Catastrophe: Armenians And Turks In The Shadow
Of Genocide. The author, Tom de Waal, will be the guest of the USC
Institute of Armenian Studies at a lunchtime conversation to be held
on Monday, February 23, 2015, at 12 noon at the USC Ground Zero
Coffeehouse.

The book documents the troubled and deteriorating relationship between
Armenians and Turks in the decades following the genocide, especially
focusing on the last half century as Armenians became more vocal in
demanding that the Turkish government acknowledge the crime of its
predecessors, even as the Turkish government became more strategic and
persistent in its denial of the historical events and culpability. The
unresolved issues continue to affect relations between the two
countries which share a (closed) border, and have a broader impact on
relations in what is already a problematic region.

De Waal will be in conversation on the topics covered in his book and
beyond with Professor Robert English, Director of the USC School of
International Relations and an expert on the politics of Russia and
the former USSR. English was in the region, including Armenia, in the
years marking the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is the author of
five books, including Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev,
Intellectuals and the End of the Cold War.

De Waal is a senior associate in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing primarily in
the countries and conflicts of the South Caucasus region, as well as
in the wider Black Sea region. He has worked extensively as a
journalist and writer, including for the BBC World Service in London,
and continues to make documentaries for BBC Radio. He is the author of
the authoritative book on the Karabakh conflict, Black Garden: Armenia
and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War which has been translated into
Armenian, Azeri, Russian and Turkish, and of The Caucasus: An
Introduction, 2010.

Salpi Ghazarian, the director of the USC Institute of Armenian
Studies, says, “We invite the community to the USC campus for this
program. This, like our previous lunchtime programs, is not a
lecture. It’s a conversation between two people who have spent many
years studying the region and its challenges and concerns. It’s an
especially important conversation to be having on the anniversary of
the Genocide, as the term itself continues to be a serious political
conflict.

Lunch will be served. The event will be live streamed at:

Directions and parking information:

We advise guests to park in Parking Structure D, which is located on
the corner of Jefferson and Figueroa (across from the Shrine). See
attached map for the location of the event (USC Ground Zero
Coffeehouse.)

Please call 213.821.3943 if you have any questions regarding the
event, including parking and directions.

About the Institute
Established in 2005, the USC Institute of Armenian Studies supports
multidisciplinary scholarship to re-define, explore and study the
complex issues that make up the contemporary Armenian experience –
from post-Genocide to the developing Republic of Armenia to the
evolving Diaspora. The institute encourages research, publications and
public service, and benefits from communication technologies that link
together the global academic and Armenian communities.

###

“NO ONE CAN SAY WHETHER TSARUKYAN’S VISIT TO MOSCOW HAS HAD SUCCESS OR NOT” (VIDEO)

10:53 | February 17,2015 | Interview

A1+ interviewed Expert of electoral technologies Armen Badalyan.

There is an opinion that Serzh Sargsyan made his famous speech when it
became known that Gagik Tsarukyan’s visit to Moscow hadn’t had success.

“No one can say whether Tsarukyan’s visit to Moscow has had success
or not,”- answers Armen Badalyan.

From: A. Papazian

THREAT TO LIBERATED TERRITORIES

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 17 February 2015, 11:21

A few hours prior to the meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammedyarov announced
that the co-chairs must urge the Armenian side to withdraw from the
“occupied territories” not to violate the ceasefire. Mammedyarov said
there will not be violations of the ceasefire in that case. He said
the co-chairs should work on the principles of Madrid.

On the recent days “withdrawing from the territories” has been upheld
more frequently. The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced
during the Munich Security Conference that Azerbaijan will not shoot
if the Armenians withdraw from the territories. Recently it has
been announced that the Turkish Prime Minister Davutoghlu announced
that Turkey will open the border if at least one region is returned
to Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani military expert Uzeyir Jafarov announced that return
of three territories to Azerbaijan is possible in the nearest future.

He highlighted Baku’s readiness to join the Eurasian Union instead.

These rumors were preceded by interesting developments within the
Minsk Group. The co-chairs stated for the first time that Azerbaijan
violates the ceasefire but also called the Armenian side to take
steps towards alleviating tension.

Next, Azerbaijan admitted violating the ceasefire, and stated the
reason or the condition for refraining from violation. What was it?

Was Azerbaijan forced to make this confession or was it encouraged
by one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group? It is hard to imagine
that after the established responsibility for the violation of the
ceasefire Baku would make such brazen confession and set out the
precondition had there been unanimity of approaches of the Minsk Group.

It is worth noting that in 2015 CSTO will organize a training
of peacekeepers in Armenia. Moscow has had a strategic goal of
stationing peacekeepers in Artsakh, at the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border. However, in order to have Baku agree to this option it must
get some territories. At the same time, Turkey will be able to start
a process of opening the Armenian-Turkish border, returning to the
Armenian-Turkish protocols, which will suspend the claiming tone of
Armenia ahead of the centenary.

This mechanism might be the reason why Baku is speaking about
withdrawal from territories, not core Artsakh because, perhaps,
Azerbaijan was promised that Artsakh will not be left under the
Armenian control, and CSTO peacekeepers will be stationed there.

Prior to leaving for Baku the American co-chair James Warlick twitted
that serious negotiation with the Azerbaijani government is expected.

If the visit of three co-chairs is concerned, the question is how
coordinated they are, what diverse messages they convey to the sides
during the joint visits. In this regard, it is hard to tell whether
the co-chairs are taking new messages to Baku that are beyond the
principles of Madrid or they are going to urge Baku to observe the
ceasefire without preconditions? Once they spoke and hushed Baku but
eventually Baku’s behavior became even more brazen. It means that
one of the co-chairs winks to Baku when the others are hushing it.

On February 17 the co-chairs will arrive in Armenia from Baku. They are
visiting Armenia amid a political scramble when Serzh Sargsyan’s tough
step is followed by crystallization of the non-governmental force.

So far the domestic debate has focused on domestic problems. A
consensus has been reached on foreign matters. What will happen
if Armenia is made to face the issue of handing one or several
territories? How will the government and the non-governmental forces
act, will they promote the scenario of stationing CSTO peacekeepers
in Artsakh or will the domestic opposition serve the interests of
Armenia, at least once, if exposed to such risk?

In this regard, in the non-governmental pole Ter-Petrosyan’s approach
is known who considers return of territories a guarantee of security,
which is in line with Azerbaijan’s claim. In addition, in 2007
Vardan Oskanyan of PAP accepted the principles of Madrid as basis
for negotiations where return of territories is stated.

Apparently, Armenia will again have to rely on the West-Iran alliance,
not the government or the opposition.