Author: admin

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CALL ON KOSOVO NOT TO MONOPOLIZE RIGHT TO LIBERTY AND SOVEREIGNTY

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.04.2008 17:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Raffi K. Hovannisian, chairman of the Heritage
Party and leader of its group in the National Assembly, took part
from in a mission of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA)
to Serbia and Kosovo April 21 to 25. Armenia was also represented
by Artur Aghabekyan, who heads the republic’s delegation to the
parliamentary assembly.

The mission, which was led by British MP Michael Clapham who chairs
the NATO PA Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and which
comprised members from more than ten countries, visited Belgrade and
Pristina to learn first-hand about the current situation in the region.

In Belgrade, Raffi Hovannisian and his colleagues held meetings with
a roundtable of NATO ambassadors; Deputy Speaker Miloljub Albijanic of
the Serbian National Assembly; Chairman Marko Djurisic of the Serbian
delegation to the NATO PA and several MPs representing the Standing
Committees on European Integration, on Kosovo and Metohija, and on
Defense and Security; Deputy Minister for Kosovo Ljubomir Kljakic;
Deputy Foreign Minister Borislav Stefanovic; Lieutenant General Zdravko
Ponos, Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff; officials of
the Atlantic Council of Serbia; as well as NGO representatives and
university students.

Among the topics broached by the Armenian participants in Belgrade
were ways and means to surmount the crisis in Serbian-NATO relations,
Serbia’s recent anti-Armenian vote at the United Nations, and the
imperative not to employ the prospect of recognition of the Mountainous
Karabakh Republic and its legally-declared independence as a bargaining
or public-relations chip vis-a-vis the international community.

In Pristina, the combined parliamentary delegation was received by
Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and members of government; Speaker Jakup
Krasniqi, parliamentary leaders, and minority representatives of the
Assembly of Kosovo; Ambassador Tim Guldimann of the OSCE Mission
in Kosovo; Ambassador Lawrence Rossin, Principal Deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General; Ambassadors Pieter Feith
and Roy Reeve of the European Union Representation in Kosovo; as
well as KFOR Deputy Commander Major General Gerhard Stelz and other
high-ranking officers.

During the Pristina meetings Raffi Hovannisian and Artur Aghabekyan
underscored the Transatlantic and Kosovar need to overcome artificial
reliance on the concept of "uniqueness" or "sui generis" and thus the
apparent pursuit of an unjust monopoly on liberty, self-determination
and sovereignty which flouts the rule of law, and at KFOR headquarters
inquired as to why Azerbaijan had hastily recalled its troops from
the multinational peacekeeping force.

On April 24, Hovannisian, Aghabekyan, and Armenian Defense Ministry
interpreter Aram Hovhannisyan paid a special visit to the 34 Armenian
peacekeepers who are serving on a Greek base in the US-supervised
sector of Kosovo. In a most moving meeting on the 93rd anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide, a ceremony of prayers, speeches, and questions
and answers delivered the conclusion that there could be no higher
monument to the memory of the victims, the homes, and the lands of
the Great Armenian Dispossession than the daily duty which each and
every Armenian soldier fulfills at home and abroad.

The Armenian delegation also consulted on base with the visiting deputy
prime minister of the Hellenic Republic, its deputy defense minister,
and the general in command of its land forces.

YARD SPORTS FESTIVAL TO BE ORGANIZED THIS YEAR AS WELL ON INITIATIVE OF YEREVAN MAYOR’S OFFICE

Noyan Tapan
April 28, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. A contest-festival of Yerevan’s
music and art schools is held for already the second year on the
initiative of Yerevan Mayor’s Office. This year it started on April
20 and will finish on June 14, with a concert to be held in Aram
Khachatrian concert hall. As Kamo Movsisian, the Head of the Youth,
Culture, and Sport Department of Mayor’s Office, said at the April
28 press conference, festival’s goal is not only to raise quality
of music schools, but also to draw children’s attention to national
instruments. It was also mentioned that the best ten of music and
art schools will be chosen in the contest and the winning schools
will be given prizes.

According to K. Movsisian, a yard sports fesival and The Best Sport
Family event will be organized this year as well on the initiative of
the Mayor’s Office. In his words, the first yard sports festival was
held in 2007, in which 2000 children from different communities of
Yerevan took part. The festival includes a number of kinds of sport:
football, volleyball, basketball, handball. It was mentioned that
both cultural and sports events will involve disabled children as well.

K. Movsisian also said that like every year this year also Yerevan
Mayor’s Office will organize a concert dedicated to the Last Bell
event for comprehensive school leavers in Liberty Square.

JáN KUBIÅ¡: "AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT DURING THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 28 2008

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva -APA. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov has met Chairman of the Council of Europe Committee of
Ministers, Slovakian Foreign Minister Ján Kubiš.

The ministers have held a briefing after the meeting, APA
reports.Mammadyarov stated that bilateral relations had been
discussed at the meeting. "Unfortunately, the relations between the
two countries are not on proper level. We hope that these relations
will further be developed. There is much potential for the cooperation
between Azerbaijan and Slovakia", he said. Mammadyarov noted that
he had given information to the guest about the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. The Minister mentioned that he would meet Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian and OSCE MG Co-Chairs on May 6. Ján Kubiš
stressed the importance of further expansion of relations between the
two countries. The guest stated that his country had potential to
cooperate with Azerbaijan on economy, energy and construction. To
him, legal base should be expanded for it. Kubiš touched upon
Nagorno Karabakh conflict and noted that Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity should be taken into account during the solution to Nagorno
Karabakh. Kubiš added that his visit to Azerbaijan aimed to discuss
the pre-election situation and freedom of press.

"We had several recommendations. We hope that Azerbaijan will do its
best to hold elections democratically and transparently", he said.

–Boundary_(ID_wUTFNwPbDMcAjOzY7euuiA)–

Tufts Daily, MA
April 28, 2008
Armenian Genocide issue requires sustainable solution
By Harout Harry Semerdjian

This month, the world once again commemorates the 1915 mass killings
and deportation of over two million Armenians by the Young Turk regime
of the Ottoman Empire. Ninety-three years after the first genocide of
the 20th century, the United States and the international community
should, at last, compel the leadership of Turkey to seek a real and
sustainable solution to the Armenian Genocide issue by ensuring that
the country comes to terms with its past, as well as adopts some
much-desired changes in its policies toward Armenia.

The Armenian issue is one of the main foreign policy challenges for
the Turkish state today, which emerges not only in its policies toward
Armenia, but also in its relations with countries on nearly every
continent of the globe. Vehemently denied by Turkey, the 1915 events
have been accepted as genocide by over 20 countries of the world,
including such important nations as France, Russia and Canada. In
addition, 40 out of the states have affirmed the Armenian massacres as
genocide, and this reality should not be dismissed as mere local state
politics. These states, covering a huge portion of the country both in
terms of geography and population, speak the voices of their
people. Given this trend, then, it may be only a matter of time for
the remaining 10 states to follow the footsteps of the others – which
may eventually compel the United States government to affirm the 1915
events as genocide.

Last year, as the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee brought the
Armenian Genocide Resolution to a vote in the full House of
Representatives, it was certain that the resolution would pass with a
majority of at least 227 co-sponsors. However, with threats of an
invasion of northern Iraq (which eventually took place) as well as a
possible halt to military relations with the United States, Turkey was
successful in convincing the White House to use its acute leverage
over several congressmen to pull out their support from the
resolution.

But this cannot be interpreted as a political victory for Turkey for
several reasons, the most important being that the congressmen have
not argued against the reality of the Genocide. They have cited
Turkey’s geo-strategic importance for the United States, and at least
one congressman who temporarily withdrew his support has explicitly
stated that "it is a good resolution and horrible timing." In other
words, these congressmen have arrived at the conclusion that genocide
took place in 1915 and they are ready to support legislation that
would set the U.S. record straight on this historical issue, but they
will vote on it when their dependence on Turkey regarding Iraq
subsides. Hence, the resolution has been postponed to sometime this
year – but it will undoubtedly resurface.

It would be na’ve and premature to interpret this development as a
final "victory" for Turkey. Rather, it can be seen as Turkey having
indirectly bought some precious time – which should not be
wasted. Turkey, foremost, has to use this opportunity to directly
communicate with Armenia on this issue in order to avoid third
parties, such as the U.S. Congress, from legislating history. Turkish
leaders should immediately consider opening the border with Armenia
and establishing diplomatic relations with the country. This move
would not only help build bridges between the countries and their
societies through economic and cultural contacts, it will also allow
the two sides to understand and assess the issues amongst
themselves. Without any preconditions, Armenia has already expressed
its desire to open the border and establish relations between the two
countries.

The Turkish leadership has very explicitly expressed its extreme
discontent with the congressional resolution as well as similar
preceding resolutions internationally. Doubtless, introduction of such
resolutions will not stop here and will only escalate in the coming
months and years, particularly as the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide nears.

I believe Turkey has an important opportunity here to prevent third
countries from adopting resolutions on the Armenian issue by taking on
the matter directly and officially with Armenia. Until then, the
Armenian Diaspora, largely a creation of the great dispossession and
mass deportations of Armenians in 1915, will continue to push for
recognition through their home countries. This brings no real benefit
to either Turkey or Armenia; it mainly brings a short-term
psychological comfort to diaspora Armenians, who see no results on the
issue between their homeland and Turkey and feel compelled to take the
matter into their own hands. The United States and the international
community should therefore challenge the Turkish leadership to adopt
changes in its Armenian policy, which will undoubtedly benefit both
sides and help build long-overdue bridges between the two nations.

Harout Harry Semerdjian, a Doctoral Candidate at the University of
Oxford, is an alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and
the University of California, Los Angeles. He may be reached at
[email protected]

Omaha World-Herald (Nebraska)
April 26, 2008 Saturday
Iowa; Midlands; Nebraska; Sunrise Editions

A chauvinist nation: Keep Turkey out of the EU if it rejects real
freedom of speech.

EDITORIAL; Pg. 06B

There’s freedom of speech, and then there’s, well, un-freedom of
speech. Turkey is having difficulty accepting the real thing and is
justifiably suffering for it.

Since the days of Kemal Ataturk, who founded the modern nation, Turkey
has had a ban on insulting "Turkishness." Since 2005, more than 60
cases have been prosecuted over "insults" ranging from denigrating the
nation’s armed forces to writing a book about Ataturk that reported he
had once fled disguised as a woman. Most individuals have been
acquitted.

Many of the "insults" are derived from the Turkish nation’s
sensitivities over its ethnic Kurds, whose rebellion was squashed in
the early 20th century at a cost of tens of thousands of lives, and
the ethnic cleansing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during the
final years of the Ottoman Empire, in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries.

Turkey wants to join the European Union but faces a freedom-of-speech
barrier. To overcome it, the nation is considering replacing the word
"Turkishness" with the phrase "Turkish nation" and reducing the
maximum penalty for the offense from three years to two.

That’s hardly a giant step toward freedom of speech. If the EU is
serious about its core tenets, it will hold true to safeguarding the
principle of free speech. Further EU delay on Turkey’s application for
membership would focus the minds of Turkish leaders on the need to
move away from a chauvinistic, narrow-minded attitude.

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
April 26 2008

Azerbaijani ambassador to Great Britain meets with members of House of
Lords

26 April 2008 [11:41] – Today.Az

Azerbaijani ambassador to Great Britain Fahraddin Gurbanov held
individual meetings with members of the House of Lords of the British
Parliament Lord Hilton and Baroness Simons on April 23 and 24.

The due information was provided by a source from the Azerbaijani
embassy to Great Britain, according to Day.Az.

The sides shared views regarding the existing contacts between the
countries and issues of mutual concern.

The ambassador informed the members of the House of Lords about the
processes ongoing in the country and the region as well as of projects
of regional importance.

During the meetings ambassador Gurbanov spoke of the history of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, continuing efforts
in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group in the direction of peaceful
resolution, as well as on regional cooperation and in the sphere of
integration, especially on cooperation, carried out in the framework
of GUAM.

Moreover, the ambassador also informed about the arrangements, held
for regulation of oil revenues in Azerbaijan and stressed formation of
a separate State Oil Fund.

Lord Hilton and Baroness Simons noted that the conflict resolution
will have a positive impact on regional integration processes and drew
attention of the ambassador to the importance of cooperation between
Azerbaijan and Great Britain in all spheres.

During the meeting the sides stressed need for the further expansion
of parliamentary relations between the two countries.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
April 25, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

SPEAKER PELOSI LEADS CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ADOPTION OF ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE LEGISLATION AT ANNUAL CAPITOL HILL REMEMBRANCE

— Sen. Bob Menendez Pledges to Carefully Question
President Bush’s New Nominee for Ambassador to Armenia;
Warns of New Hold if Answers Fall Short

"I come to pay respect with some sadness – certainly
sadness over what happened nearly 100 years ago but
also sadness that it is long past time for the President
and the Congress to formally recognize the Armenian
Genocide." – Speaker Nancy Pelosi

WASHINGTON, DC – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was joined by
more than a dozen of her House and Senate colleagues yesterday in
urging passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, a move
described by legislators on both sides of the aisle as a long
overdue rejection of Turkey’s "gag-rule" on the U.S. Congress and a
powerful step toward ending all forms of U.S. complicity in
Turkey’s multi-million dollar campaign of denial, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Americans don’t like gag rules," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian. "We saw that at this year’s Capitol Hill observance,
and we’re seeing it across Congress, from both sides of the aisle.
Americans don’t appreciate a foreign government dictating our human
rights policy and resent Turkey’s attempts to veto America’s
recognition of the Armenian Genocide."

Speaker Pelosi’s remarks came at the annual Armenian Genocide
Observance on Capitol Hill, organized this year by the
Congressional Armenian Caucus. Over 200 Armenian Americans
attended the function including Armenian Genocide survivors Rose
Baboyan, Yeretsgeen Sirarpi Khoyan and Alice Shnorhokian. The
event was preceded by a reception organized by the ANCA, U.S.-
Armenia Public Affairs Committee and other organizations.

Speaker Pelosi, who received a standing ovation upon her arrival,
noted that she keeps a copy of the front page of the October 11,
2007, issue of The New York Times, which features a photo of
Armenian Genocide survivors attending the House Foreign Affairs
Committee markup of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106).
The Committee, despite intense pressure from the Turkish Government
and personal pleas by President George Bush, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other
Administration officials, passed the resolution 27 to 21. "Our
work is not finished – there is much more to be done, but on that
day, a very important committee of the Congress of the United
States made a statement that was courageous – made a statement that
was appropriate to the values of the American people – that nearly
100 years ago something happened to the Armenian people and we in
the United States are prepared to call it a genocide," stated
Pelosi, who went on to note, "it is long past time for the
President and the Congress to formally recognize the Armenian
Genocide."

Speaker Pelosi then went on to explain the modern day implications
of genocide denial. "Many times people have said to me as we were
bringing this up and since then ‘Why are you doing this? Even if
it is genocide, it happened a long time ago?’ I said ‘I know, but
genocide is happening right here and now on our planet. It
happened in Rwanda, and it is happening in Darfur. And as long as
it exists we have to make a statement about a genocide we know
happened – no matter how long ago.’"

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer concurred, sharing with the assembled
Members of Congress and Armenian American community activists,
"Don’t accept the premise at all that this resolution is about what
happened in 1915-1923. Does it recognize it, does it relate to it
– of course. But it is a resolution that says not just to Turks,
not just to the Armenian people, but to all peoples, that we need
to recognize the transgressions of the past – however heinous they
may be and however much we may want to deny them. Because if we do
not, our children will not recognize their responsibility to never
let it happen again."

Ending the Cycle of Genocide

Speakers throughout the evening of the Capitol Hill Observance
noted the dangerous precedent set by failing to recognize the
Armenian Genocide. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), an influential member of the
House leadership, citing his successful efforts along with Maryland
State Senator Perry Sfikas to adopt Armenian Genocide legislation
in the Maryland State Senate in 2003, explained that "If people had
stood up and called attention to what was happening at the time and
had condemned it, we may well have avoided the other genocides and
atrocities in the 20th Century."

Congressional Hellenic Caucus Co-Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
agreed, noting that, "those who forget will face the same horrors
in the future. We must pass the resolution, we must make sure that
this country and world remembers the Armenian Genocide so that it
never happens again to any person, to any culture, to any nation."

Armenian American Legislators Offer Powerful Remarks

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who until recently was the only Member of
Congress of Armenian heritage, affirmed that she "will not rest"
until the U.S. Congress has recognized the Armenian Genocide, and
praised the Armenian American community for its vital role as the
conscience behind this noble human rights movement. She pointed
out to her legislative colleagues and all gathered for the event
that, "There is an important advertisement in ‘The Hill’ today
which reads, "Who decides when America speaks on human rights? We
should – not any foreign government." And so we shall."

Jackie Kanchelian Speier (D-CA), who was sworn-in as the second
Armenian American in Congress earlier this month after a special
election in her Bay Area district, came to Washington, DC with a
long and distinguished track record of Armenian Genocide
recognition as a State legislator. She stressed that, "The facts
before us are not in dispute. The reason we still debate this is
not to determine that a genocide took place, but to determine if we
have the political backbone to stand up for the truth… I commit
to you, as a member of this Armenian Caucus, and as a member of the
House of Representatives, that I will have the backbone to stand up
to make sure that the Armenian Genocide is not only recognized, but
is never ever forgotten."

New U.S. Ambassadorial Nominee for Armenia

Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) received the most thunderous applause
of the evening for his remarks regarding his principled stand
against President Bush’s flawed nomination to fill the vacancy in
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia after the State Department, in 2005,
fired John Marshall Evans from this same post for speaking
truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. To sustained applause, he
recalled that, "When I saw Ambassador Hoagland’s responses to
questions that were placed to him, I felt compelled to put a hold
on his nomination. His nomination did not move forward and I have
told the Administration, which now has a new nominee, that I intend
to ask the same tough questions […] and that I hope our new
nominee will give us answers that we can accept. If not, I will
not hesitate to use my power once again to stop that nominee."

Also addressing this issue, Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), explained
that he sent a letter to the President last month stressing that
the Administration’s nominee fully understand the "very clear"
history of the Armenian Genocide before having an opportunity to be
confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Armenian Genocide Resolution Lead Sponsors Call for Passage

"Almost an entire people were lost and 93 years later we still
fight in the greatest democracy on earth to recognize the plain
fact of what took place," said the author of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution, Adam Schiff (D-CA). "We have the strongest moral
imperative to call that loss exactly what it was without
equivocation without mitigation – genocide. And we will fight
until we succeed."

Rep. George Radanovich (R-CA), the lead Republican behind the
Resolution and consistent champion for its adoption, shared that
State Department officials have said to him, "George, we can’t do
this, if we do this… Turkey is on the border of Iraq, if we do
this they’re going to invade and go after the Kurds in northern
Iraq. Well we didn’t do it and look what the Turks did – they went
into Northern Iraq anyway, and they attacked the Kurds."

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Co-Chairman of the Armenian Caucus, who
served as one of the events two Masters of Ceremony along with his
fellow Co-Chairman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), explained that, "Though
we have had some setbacks in this Congress and certainly last year,
we are not going to stop until there is an official genocide
recognition and we pass House Resolution 106. So we give you that
commitment." Rep. Knollenberg, who serves on the Congressional
panel that writes the foreign aid bill, stressed that, "The United
States should affirm the Genocide once and for all. There are many
reasons to do this, but the most important is so that we can
prevent atrocities like the genocide from happening in the future.
But we first must admit to and learn from the past before we can
stop future genocides."

Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA), a vocal and eloquent advocate who
played a pivotal role in the resolution’s adoption in Committee
last year, said that, "We will pass the Armenian Genocide
Resolution and we will pass it on the floor. And when we do, I
would argue that the greatest beneficiaries other than the Armenian
people, will be the Turkish people. Where would Germany be today,
if Germans denied the Holocaust? Their ticket to becoming a modern
and respected nation was acknowledging their own history. Someday
Turkey needs to enter the 21st Century with clean hands or at least
a repentant heart."

Armenian Caucus Member Ed Royce (R-CA), who rallied key Republican
supporters during October’s Committee vote, delivered a moving
address, in which he asked: "if we are going to be a leader for
human rights around the world, are we prepared to stand aside when
the French and the Germans and the Swiss and the Swedish and even
the Russians step forward and recognize what constitutes genocide?
Are we prepared, because of pressure to be silenced?"

Rep. Steve Rothman, a powerful member of the foreign aid panel and
a strong advocate for the passage of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution and strengthening Armenia, affirmed that, "We will never
hide from the truth. Humanity will suffer if we do that again. I
will not be a party to that. A genocide has been committed, if you
wish to say it was by the Ottomans, so be it, but it was a
genocide. One and a half millions souls destroyed intentionally."

Among the other legislators in attendance were Representatives Gus
Bilirakis (R-FL), David Dreier (R-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN), James
McGovern (D-MA), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Frank Wolf (R-VA).

IAGS President Greg Stanton Explains Real Cost of Genocide Denial

Providing keynote remarks at the observance was noted genocide
scholar Dr. Gregory Stanton, President of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and Genocide Watch. Citing
the House Foreign Affairs Committee passage last year of the
Genocide resolution, Stanton explained that by postponing a full
House vote, "Again the United States surrendered to the ninety-year
campaign of denial by the government of Turkey. The State
Department and the White House have continued the cowardly policies
of every Secretary of State since Lansing who have considered it
more important to placate the Turkish government than to be
truthful about history."

Dr. Stanton went on to explain the eight stages of genocide and the
dangerous cost of genocide denial both to the victims and the
perpetrators. He described the benefits of genocide recognition,
"telling the truth would ultimately be good for U.S.-Turkish
relations, because they would no longer be based on diplomatic
lies." Passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, he noted,
would also "pay tribute to America’s first international human
rights movement. The Foreign Service Officers and prominent
individuals such as Theodore Roosevelt, Ambassador Henry
Morgenthau, and Cleveland Dodge, who did so much to help the
Armenians, exemplify America’s legacy of moral leadership. Dr.
Stanton’s complete remarks are available on the ANCA website at:
[link]

Moving Remarks by Diplomats and Clergy

The program was opened by moving prayers by His Eminence Oshagan
Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Eastern
United States, and His Eminence Archbishop Vicken Aykazian,
Diocesan Legate and Ecumenical Officer of the Diocese of the
Armenian Church of America. In his invocation, Archbishop Choloyan
gave a special prayer for the "safety of all of the men and women
of our armed forces serving around the world." He went on to praise
the efforts of Amb. Henry Morgenthau and the diplomatic corps of
the time of the Genocide who "shared in the responsibility of
publicizing the Genocide of the Armenians and administering
relief."

Armenia’s Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Tatoul
Markarian, affirmed that Armenia’s "policy towards Turkey will
continue under the newly elected President, Serzh Sargisyan. We
are ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey. We have
made that offer consistently since 1991, meaning that Turkey has to
resolve all issues bilaterally with Armenia within normally
established inter-state relations. Meanwhile, we all understand,
however, that normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations although
important, cannot happen at the expense of the genocide
recognition."

The Republic of Nagorno Karabagh’s Representative in Washington,
DC, Vardan Barseghian, spoke eloquently on behalf of the citizens
of his Republic, noting that, "Some who are less familiar with our
part of the world, and whom we are trying to educate about the
urgency of recognizing the crimes of the past, would say that we
should not be concerned about a new genocide. Some are even
prepared to argue that modern day Turkey is not a threat to Armenia
and Artsakh. Fifteen years ago, Turkey supported Azerbaijan, as
the latter waged a war to kill or expel the entire Armenian
population of Nagorno Karabagh. Unfortunately the threat of
genocide is an ever-present one. Azerbaijan continues to threaten
Artsakh with a new war, because we insist on our right to live in
freedom."

#####

SEE KILLINGS AS GENOCIDE: ARMENIAN LEADER
Mariam Harutunian, Agence France-Presse

National Post, Canada
April 25 2008

YEREVAN, ARMENIA – Armenia’s new president vowed yesterday to redouble
efforts to have mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
recognized as genocide, a label staunchly rejected by Turkey.

Thousands gathered in the Armenian capital to commemorate the
massacres, which many countries have recognized as genocide, a term
at the heart of a bitter dispute between Armenia and Turkey.

Under bright sunshine, long lines of people climbed to a hilltop
memorial in Yerevan to mark the 93rd anniversary of the start of
killings, which took place in 1915-23 and led to a mass exodus of
Armenians from what is now eastern Turkey.

In an address at the ceremony, Serzh Sarkisian, the newly elected
Armenian President, said his country would boost its efforts to win
international recognition of the killings as genocide, regardless of
Turkey’s objections.

"The republic of Armenia should double its efforts for the restoration
of historical justice. When it comes to condemning the genocide,
denial has no future, especially today when many countries around
the world have added their voices to the voice of truth," he said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.

MOSCOW POLICE BLOCK MOTORCADE UNDER ARMENIAN FLAGS

Interfax News Agency, Russia
April 24 2008

Moscow police have blocked a motorcade of 15-20 jeeps flying Armenian
flags in the city center on Thursday afternoon, a police source
told Interfax.

"The vehicles were moving by the Garden Ring, from Mayakovsky Square
to Smolenskaya Square. The police blocked them. They had no permission
to hold the action, so the drivers were requested to take away the
flags," he said.

The motorcade headed for 7th Rostovsky Side-Street, where the Turkish
embassy is located. It was stopped near Borodinsky Bridge.

He said the action was held in protest against the Armenian genocide
in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY SLAMS FLAG BURNING IN ARMENIA

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
April 25 2008

Ankara, 25 April: A Spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said Friday that Turkey strongly condemns the trampling of
the Turkish flag in Yerevan on April 24th and the burning of the
Turkish flag a day earlier in Yerevan by Armenians.

In a written press release, the Turkish MFA said that "the Turkish flag
symbolizes the values, beliefs and freedom of the Turks. All peoples
know how much importance the Turks attach to the Turkish flag. News
from Yerevan pertaining to the Turkish flag have caused deep sorrow,
reaction and anger in the Turkish society. We strongly condemn all
acts made against the Turkish flag in Yerevan".