Author: Andres-Papazian

No alternative to Karabakh’s independence – Manvel Grigoryan

15:02 – 08.05.11

Karabakh is an independent state and there is no alternative to that
independence, a veteran of the Karabakh war has said.

Speaking at the Yerablur cemetery on the occasion of the anniversary
of the Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers (UYV), the Union’s Board
Chairman, General Manvel Grigoryan said that it will always stand next
to the Karabakhi people.

`Artsakh [Karabakh] is 20 years old already, an independent state.
Artsakh’s independence has no alternative,’ said he.

`Much in the same way as 20 years ago, today too we stand next to the
Artsakhi people,’ said Grigoryan.

Further, Manvel Grigoryan said that today’s priority is to develop
those territories.

`Today’s task for us, for Yerkrapah members, is to preserve and build
the territories liberated by us,’ said he.

Attending the ceremony at the Yerablur cemetery were Armenia’s Defense
Minister Seyran Ohanyan, UYV representatives, and other high-ranking
officials, who laid flowers at the memorial dedicated to the warriors
of the Karabakh war.

It was also announced that more than 5000 UYV members received
governmental awards and titles.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Seyran Ohanyan congratulates Yerkrapah Union Volunteers

14:29 – 08.05.11

Armenia’s Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan congratulated the members of
the Union of Yerkrapah Volunteers on the occasion of the anniversary
of the union.

Speaking at the Yerablur cemetery on Sunday, Ohanyan said that
Armenians’ struggle has born fruit as the Armenians live now in an
independent state.

`We have created a state. We have a right to live independently, we
are free today,’ said Ohanyan, adding what has been achieved so far
should be developed through joint efforts.

According to Ohanyan, at least two months in the year are extremely
valuable for Armenian – May, which marks three victorious days, and
September, when Armenia and Karabakh celebrate the anniversary of
their independence.

In May Armenia celebrates the liberation of Shushi, the victories in
battles of Sardarapat, Aparan and Gharaqilisa 1918.

`And our unity lies behind these victories. If it were the
subdivisions and the military units from Artsakh that played a
decisive role in Sardarapat [battle], then during the Artsakh survival
struggle a decisive role played also the subdivisions and detachments
of formed by Yerkrapah and freedom fighter,’ said Ohanyan.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Shirak-Mika – 1:0

10:53 – 08.05.11

Gyumri’s football team Shirak beat Mika at Ijevan’s Arnar Stadium on
Saturday in the framework of the 8th round of Armenia’s Football
Championship.

According to the Armenian sports news website, the only goal was
scored by Mkrtich Nalbandyan who made it after a successful pass by
Artak Oseyan.

Saturday’s match is Shirak’s second victory following the second
round, when the team celebrated the first victory.

As of 65th minute of the match Mika was playing with 10 players, after
Hayk Ishkhanyan was given a red card.

Andranik Barikyan from Shirakh missed the match as he had already been
given a yellow card and would have to miss the final, if given another
yellow.

For the same reason Narek Beglaryan and Aghvan Lazarian also missed
Saturday’s match.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Garen Yegparian: What Happened This Year?

08.05.2011 | 14:21 | | Noyan Tapan | Articles and Analyses

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

I was puzzled and disappointed by the overall lower turnouts for our
April 24th period events this year, especially compared to last year.
This was across the board, at all events. The number of events was
down, too. Even Lobby Day in Sacramento saw a decreased turnout.

Is it because it’s not a `big’ year in the count from 1915? By that I
mean a multiple of five or ten. Last year it was the 95th, this year…
Conversely, this year, April 24th fell on a Sunday, so there could not
have been work conflicts for those who want to attend any of our
events.

Meanwhile, our foes are gearing up, becoming more sophisticated, more
attuned to the American political battlefield, and getting VERY
moneyed up. Think about Yalcin Ayasli (Yalchin Ayashli) and his
million Hittite Corp. stock donation to start the Turkish Coalition of
America, probably millions more to the Turkish Cultural foundation,
and most importantly, over a quarter million dollars of POLITICAL
giving by him and his family just in 2010! Make no mistake about it,
all that money is aimed straight at fighting our community in the U.S.
and worldwide in our efforts at securing that which the Turkish
government has stolen from us.

So what are we doing while the Turks are getting their act together?
Not participating, that’s what! And why aren’t we? Well, it seems some
nasty stuff went down almost 2000 years ago, and a day that floats the
breadth of two months of the year is used to recognize/celebrate that
2000 year-old stuff. This year, that day happened to fall on April
24th. Well, as a result, everyone was busy eating dyed eggs and fish
and visiting friends and family. Our church, the ARMENIAN Apostolic
Church (AAC), for whatever reason, chose to inflict and impose the
results of the arcane formula of when Easter is celebrated on the
nation whose child it is. Disregarding the conflict, yes CONFLICT,
created by the coincidence of April 24 and Easter for the first time
since the date became relevant to our nation.

Why did the church do this? Simple habit? Greed? Remember, this is the
biggest church attendance day which means a lotta-loot flowing into
the church’s collection plates? Public relations obliviousness?
Imagine if the date had been changed, say, to the old system under
which we celebrated Easter much later, sometimes in May. Think of the
media frenzy `Armenian church moves Easter!’ the headlines would have
screamed. And, immediately after, the `why’ would have been answered,
further generating Genocide awareness among our neighbors. This
mistake is unconscionable. If it is to remain our national church,
then the AAC should act the part.

All the linguistic gymnastics, at all the events, tying together
Easter and April 24th, the `death and rebirth’ gimmick, that were on
display can’t make up for the harm done to our efforts in furtherance
of our just cause. Imagine, at the Unified Young Armenians event,
though hyped as having huge attendance while the opposite was true, at
least one speaker expended great effort to tie Easter and April 24
together. Yet the event was topsy-turvy with the rally first and the
march following, almost assuring that even the crowd that had gathered
would tend to dissipate. All this because of the Easter conflict.

The gathering at the Montebello Martyrs Monument was held NOT on the
24th, for the first time in at least 15 years that I can remember. It
was moved to the 23rd. This in turn caused a dual conflict of that
gathering with the AYF’s `Cycle Against Denial’. The times of both
events overlapped, plus, a group of bicyclists riding from Glendale to
the gathering at the monument and back resulted in two cycling events
on the same day, at partially overlapping times.

The only unchanged event was the AYF-organized demonstration at the
Turkish consulate. MUCH credit is due the AYF for resisting pressure
to change even this most politically relevant of our events.

All this happened because of a lack of foresight and proper
consideration of our nation’s needs on the part of our church
leadership and insufficient pressure from us, the laity, the Armenian
community.

Let’s NEVER allow this to happen again!

From: A. Papazian

Behind the Facade of Innocence: Talaat Pasha Tracked Progress of
Genocidal Program

08.05.2011 | 15:01 | | Noyan Tapan | Press of Diaspora

(Noyan Tapan – 08.05.2011) MassisPost.com- Recent documents released
in Turkish archives, combined with surviving documents from Talaat’s
Pasha’s private papers, confirm that Talaat was indeed the architect
of the Armenian Genocide. There is a clear record that he ordered and
supervised the general deportation of Ottoman Armenians in 1915-16,
and that he followed the fate of such deportees from close quarters.
Talaat was sent updates regarding Armenians at different stages of
deportations, as well as information about the fate of others who were
subjected to special treatment. Although a great deal of Ottoman
records still remain unavailable in Turkish archives, the available
records show that the Ottoman deportation thesis was a smokescreen for
the annihilation of Armenians. Ottoman records in Turkish archives, as
well as Talaat’s 1917 report, show that less than 100,000 Armenians
survived in the so-called resettlement zone for Armenians. According
to Talaat’s report on the Armenian Genocide, most Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire had disappeared between 1915 and 1917, or they were
dispersed in different provinces of the Ottoman Empire for
assimilation. The forced assimilation of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians was indicative of the power, control and purpose of the
Ottoman state.

Talaat Pasha’s Report on the Armenian Genocide, 1917 is the closest
official Ottoman view we have of the Armenian Genocide. The report was
undoubtedly prepared for Talaat Pasha and meant for his private use.
It was not meant for publication and probably only survived because
Talaat was assassinated in 1921 and his widow gave the report to a
Turkish historian who eventually published it.* No such record has
been released by Turkish archives to date, though the data presented
in the 1917 report can be checked against the available Ottoman
records and stands scrutiny.

According to Talaat’s figures 1,150,000 Armenians disappeared in the
Ottoman Empire between 1915-1917. This number includes well over
100,000 Armenians who fled from the Ottoman Empire in 1915 (and died
in large numbers from hunger, exposure and disease), but it does not
include tens of thousands of Armenian women and children who were
absorbed into Muslim families or placed into state orphanages for
assimilation.

In this publication of Talaat’s report on the Armenian Genocide,
historian Ara Sarafian discusses the 1917 report in light of other
Ottoman records. He presents Talaat’s statistics in all detail and
includes two invaluable color maps demonstrating the content of the
report, as well as additional Ottoman documents related to the
Armenian Genocide. Sarafian presents Talaat’s breakdown of the number
of Armenians, their native provinces, and their whereabouts in the
Ottoman Empire in 1917.

From: A. Papazian

Internship Opportunities at Mission of Armenia to the UN

asbarez
Friday, May 6th, 2011

2010 interns

NEW YORK – The Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN in New York is
preparing to resume its summer internship program, which will begin on
July 5 and continue until July 22 at the Permanent Mission building in
New York City.

The Mission hopes to build off the success of last year, when it
launched the internship program for the first time. `Last year’s
interns were dedicated and professional, providing valuable extra
hands and minds to the critical role of the mission in representing
Armenia’s interests,’ said Armenia’s Ambassador to the UN Garen
Nazarian. Intern responsibilities include attending meetings with the
Mission’s staff, preparing reports, and conducting research on UN
activities as it relates to Armenia, its neighbors, and other nations
in the region.

To gain an overview of Armenia’s international relations, interns will
attend lectures and seminars about the role and mandate of the UN and
the Armenian Mission, and the geo-political challenges facing Armenia.

The Eastern Region office of the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) will facilitate the last week of the internship program
from July 25-29, and will administer the educational portion of the
internship. `By working with passionate and thoughtful Armenian youth,
we are looking to develop leaders, who will bring political
sophistication to the international arena,’ said Garo Manjikian, the
executive director of the ANCA Eastern Region.

Applications to the internship are available on line at
anca.org/UnInternship and must be submitted by May 20. Interns coming
from outside the New York metropolitan area will be granted free
housing during the four-week duration of the program.

From: A. Papazian

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s team Ukraine’s champion

13:49 – 08.05.11

Donetsk’s football team Shakhtar has officially been announced
Ukraine’s 2010/2011 champion, after Shakhtar beat Metalurg at 2:0.

Forward of Armenia’s national football team Henrikh Mkhitaryan also
played in the Shakhtar-Metalurg match.

According to the Armrnian sports new website, Mkhitaryan joined the
match at the 68th minute.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Erdogan `sends gentle message’ to Azerbaijan over Karabakh

12:11 – 08.05.11

The Turkish prime minister’s recent speech in Turkey’s eastern region
of Igdir that stressed Azerbaijan’s importance for Turkey was warmly
welcomed in Azerbaijan, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported.

It also reinforced the trust and understanding between the two
brotherly nations, Azerbaijani experts say.

`Such statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
explicitly show Turkey’s position towards Azerbaijan so that
Azerbaijan knows it is much more important to Turkey than Armenia,’
Cavid Veliev, a regional expert at the Strategic Research Center based
in Baku, said in an interview with Zaman.

Speaking at a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) election rally
at the city of Igdir’s Belediye Square on April 30 as a part of his
election campaign, Erdogan referred to Turkey’s relations with Armenia
and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in front of a throng of local
residents.

He said straightening out Turkish-Armenian relations is not as
important as settling the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute; without the
settlement of this conflict, the normalization process between Armenia
and Turkey is impossible.

`I am putting this issue plainly once more here in Igdir: without any
breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh stalemate, our relations with
Armenia cannot get back on track,’ Erdogan said.

Talking to the paper, Elkhan Sahinoglu, the head of Baku-based Atlas
Research Center, said Erdogan’s saying that the security of
Nakhichevan and Nagorno-Karabakh is as important as the security of
Turkey and that Turkey backs Azerbaijan are very important messages
for the international community, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Erdogan once more mentioned Turkey’s steadfast stand – that without
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Turkey will neither
open the borders nor establish diplomatic relations with Armenia.

In addition, Erdogan also said Armenia should understand that if
Azerbaijan is threatened, Yerevan will find Turkey standing alongside
Azerbaijan. Saying Turkey sent a gentle message to Azerbaijan,
Sahinoglu added, `Ankara is loyal to the alliance with its brother
state.’

Normalization efforts between Ankara and Yerevan had shaken
Turkish-Azerbaijani friendship for a short period after Turkey signed
the Zurich protocols with Armenia in October 2009, an agreement to
establish diplomatic relations between the countries.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993, after the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

TURQUIE
L’intégration des Turcs au coeur de la visite du président Gül en Autriche

L’intégration de la minorité turque d’Autriche dominera l’agenda d’une
visite d’Etat de trois jours que le président turc Abdullah Gül entame
lundi à Vienne, et que l’extrême droite compte perturber en lui
réclamant publiquement le limogeage de l’ambassadeur de Turquie.

Les responsables autrichiens attendent d’Abdullah Gül qu’il encourage
ses compatriotes, accusés de vivre en groupe fermé, à mieux
s’intégrer.

Forte d’environ 110.000 membres, la communauté turque est l’une des
plus importantes de ce pays de 8,4 millions d’habitants et est l’objet
de vifs débats politiques. 100.000 Autrichiens sont également
d’origine turque.

En amont de sa visite, au cours de laquelle il s’entretiendra
notamment avec son homologue Heinz Fischer lundi et le chancelier
Werner Faymann mardi, Abdullah Gül a réclamé des améliorations dans
l’éducation pour ses compatriotes et le renforcement de l’enseignement
du turc.

La parti d’extrême droite FPÖ, qui vitupère régulièrement contre
l’islam et les immigrés, veut saisir l’occasion pour faire campagne
contre l’ambassadeur de Turquie, Kadri Ecvet Tezcan. En novembre, ce
dernier avait vertement critiqué la politique d’intégration envers les
Turcs, suscitant l’indignation des autorités.

Une lettre de protestation doit être remise à Abdullah Gül lors de sa
visite au Parlement lundi et le FPÖ boycottera le dîner d’Etat lundi
soir.

Dans un des pays les plus hostiles à son adhésion à l’UE, le chef de
l’Etat turc devrait aussi plaider à nouveau pour le destin européen de
son pays. Issu du même parti islamiste modéré AKP que son Premier
ministre, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, il est opposé à la solution d’un
partenariat privilégié, qui a notamment les faveurs de l’Allemagne et
de la France.

En marge de la ligne officielle, le nouveau secrétaire d’Etat
autrichien aux Affaires étrangères, Wolfgang Waldner, a exprimé – à
titre personnel – sa sympathie pour une adhésion turque.

Les relations économiques seront également évoquées, l’Autriche étant
un des principaux investisseurs étrangers en Turquie.

dimanche 8 mai 2011,
Sté[email protected]

From: A. Papazian

BELGIQUE
Des trafiquants d’être humains attirent en Belgique des Arméniens
souffrant du rein

De nombreux patients étrangers qui suivent un traitement dans un
centre de dialyse en Belgique pour leur rein sont d’origine
arménienne. Des intermédiaires les attirent en leur promettant des
soins gratuits et les abandonnent ensuite, malades, devant les
urgences, écrit samedi De Morgen.

Les autorités, qui supposent un trafic d’êtres humains, pensent à des
mesures dissuasives. Wim Bontinck de la cellule trafic d’êtres humains
au sein de la police fédérale connaît le phénomène mais reste prudent.
“Est-ce que les patients sont vraiment attirés avec des fausses
promesses ou avons-nous plutôt affaire à de la publicité qui se
transmet de bouche à oreille ? “, se demande-t-il.

Mesures dissuasives

Des mesures dissuasives ont déjà été mises en place. Ainsi, depuis
octobre 2010, tous les dossiers des Arméniens sont traités plus
rapidement. Cela semble porter ses fruits puisque le nombre de
demandes d’asile d’Arméniens a baissé jusqu’à 50 par mois, alors qu’il
y en avait encore environ 100 en 2009.

dimanche 8 mai 2011,
Sté[email protected]

From: A. Papazian