Author: Andres-Papazian

PROSPEROUS ARMENIA URGES TO CONSOLIDATE ARMENIAN NATION TO NEUTRALIZE AZERBAIJAN’S PROPAGANDA MACHINE

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Karabakh peace process entered a new stage, MP from Prosperous Armenia
Party (PAP), the newly-appointed Vice Speaker of RA National Assembly
Samvel Balasanyan stated at the Armenian Parliament.

Aliyev tries to mislead the international community and create an
anti-Armenia hysteria both in Azerbaijan and the world,” Balasanyan
stressed.

According to him, Prosperous Armenia party considers this stance
poses a threat to Armenia’s national security. On behalf of PAP,
Balasanyan called on taking measures to neutralize Azerbaijani
propaganda machine and reveal the true face of Azerbaijan to the
world. In that regard, Balasanyan urged to consolidate Armenian nation
and the ruling coalition.

From: A. Papazian

FBI NOT TO INSPECT ARMENIAN NOTARY’S OFFICES

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

The Ministry of Justice of Armenia has refuted the media reports
that the FBI experts that arrived in Armenia intends to conduct
inspections at Armenian notary’s offices to find out the ties the
Armenian criminals arrested in the U.S. may have in Armenia.

Lana Mshetyan, Press Secretary of the RA Ministry of Justice, informed
NEWS.am that no inquiry has been received from any law-enforcement
agencies. She pointed out that the RA Law on Notarial System prohibits
the provision of any information to law-enforcement agencies unless
they conduct investigations requiring specific information or, under
international agreements, carry out investigative actions.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH STATE MINISTER: “WE WILL PROTECT NAKHCHIVAN AND NOT OPEN BORDERS WITH ARMENIA UNLESS NAGORNOKARABAKH PROBLEM IS SOLVED”

APA
Oct 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. “Nakhchivan is very important for us. That is why we will
protect it”, Turkish State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan
told journalists after the meeting with Chairman of the Supreme Mejlis
of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan Vasif Talibov, APA
reports quoting Anadolu agency.

During the meeting with businessmen at Dilucu boundary zone in Sadarak
Caglayan said that Turkey would not open borders with Armenia unless
the Nagorno Karabakh problem is solved.

Remind that, Azerbaijan-Turkey business forum is held in Nakhchivan
city with the participation of the Autonomous Republic.

From: A. Papazian

MULTICULTURALISM
YUSUF KANLI

Hurriyet
Oct 26 2010
Turkey

Semantics and symbolism are important in this region. That is
a reality. What is done or said is often not as important as how,
where, when it is done, or where, when and how it is said.

At the same time, this country has some rigid rules and traditions.

For example, if the senior member of a family, or the leading or senior
member of a society speaks on a subject, juniors stop talking on that
issue because the time of discussion has come to an end. Even if what
is said might be wise and would perhaps serve the best interest of the
family or society, a word uttered after the final word is delivered
by the senior member can be nothing further than an act of insolence
which cannot be tolerated even if it is a product of good intention.

Culture is a complex phenomenon and as German Chancellor Angela
Merkel has recently confessed not all societies can manage to attain
multiculturalism. Multiculturalism, of course, requires the atmosphere
of cultural tolerance that allows the harmonious existence of various
groups of people with different ethnic, religious, linguistic and
cultural backgrounds.

Merkel has confessed that despite all its efforts, Germany has so
far failed in attaining multiculturalism. That was indeed a brave
statement. Since Germany cannot abandon multiculturalism dictated upon
it because of the existence of so many minorities, including the not
that small ethnic-Turkish and ethnic-Kurdish populations from Anatolia,
admitting failure means at the same time delivering an assurance that
more efforts will be spent by the federal government to help nourish
multiculturalism. Particularly in a land where one of the worst crimes
against humanity was committed in very recent history because of the
past failure to attain multiculturalism, the confession of Merkel
was a very courageous one which, rather than a simple confession of
failure, was very much like a policy statement instructing federal
authorities at all levels to work harder to achieve multiculturalism.

This country has been proud of its cultural diversity. Never ever
in the history of this nation has there been a statement delivered
admitting failure or difficulties in nourishing multiculturalism.

Turks love the cliche description that this country has a population
that is over 99 percent Muslim. Yet, is that “over 99 percent
Muslim population” monolithic? Is the entire “over 99 percent
Muslim population” composed of people subscribing to the Sunni Hanefi
religious school? Are there not people subscribing to some other sects
or religious groups in this country? What about the Alevi people who
according to some estimates make about 25 percent of the population
of this country but somehow in population statistics it is difficult
to find any mention of them.

Right, Turkey might not have any multiculturalism problems and might
be proud of nourishing over the past centuries a multicultural Turkish
society. That is why despite local Council of State as well as European
Court of Human Rights verdicts the government of this country is
still continuing compulsory religious courses at the public schools
and thus trying to assimilate non-Sunni Hanefi and non-Muslim kids.

Of course this country has no minority problems or problems related
to its minorities. When the republic was established some 20 percent
of the population of this land was non-Muslim. Right, an important
amount of our Greek Orthodox minority migrated to Greece – and many
Thracian Turks migrated to Turkey – within the framework of an exchange
of population deal provided by the Lausanne Treaty. The trauma suffered
by the Armenian and other non-Muslim minorities during the dissolution
years of the Ottoman Empire cannot be denied either. How can this
country ever forget the horrible and shameful Sept. 6-7, 1955, events
and the resulting mass migration of the Greek-Turkish minority to
Greece? Did we not rediscover only recently that there are some people
living in this land who identify themselves as Kurds, speak Kurdish
and want educational rights in Kurdish? Why are we living through so
intensely this secular-Islamist polarization in this country?

Yet, never ever has any Turkish leader delivered a courageous statement
admitting difficulties faced in nourishing multiculturalism.

Instead, all our leaders preferred to hide behind the rhetoric that
Turkey has been the land of tolerance all through the past centuries.

Multiculturalism requires self-confidence and courage, particularly
in the majority element of a society. Often, it seems tolerance is
nothing more than the gracious mercy of the absolute master toward
the lesser important ones, the minorities or the serfs…

Let’s admit that not only Germany, but this country has also failed
at multiculturalism…

From: A. Papazian

DINK’S LAWYERS SEEK TO NIX JUVENILE DEFENSE

Hurriyet Daily News
Oct 26 2010
Turkey

Amid an ongoing debate over a court’s decision to try Ogun Samast,
the alleged killer of journalist Hrant Dink, lawyers say the real
problem with the trial is its lack of scope. DAILY NEWS photo,
Hasan ALTINIÅ~^IK

Lawyers for assassinated journalist Hrant Dink objected Tuesday to
an Istanbul court’s decision to try the main murder suspect in a
juvenile court, calling for his case to be re-merged with those of
other suspects.

Alleged killer Ogun Samast’s dossier was removed from the Istanbul
court Monday based on revisions to the law affecting minors’ legal
status in adult courts. Samast was under the age of 18 at the time
of the murder in 2007.

According to Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer for the Dink family, the law
enables the cases to be merged again, something he said the lawyers
would demand.

The impact of the court’s decision Monday continues to be debated,
with lawyers and family members saying the real problem with the
trial is its lack of scope.

Though separating Samast from the other case will likely extend
the already prolonged legal process, it would not be that big of an
issue if the court revised its focus to address the “true responsible
parties,” Arzu Becerik, another lawyer in the murder case, told the
Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday prior to Cetin’s
statement. She said the lawyers’ intention is to move the process in
that direction.

The defense also demanded that the European Court of Human Rights
decision that Turkey had failed to protect Dink be accepted as solid
evidence in the domestic case. The court has been criticized for
not investigating or bringing to trial high-level civil servants and
security personnel who made have played a role in Dink’s death.

“Ogun is a detail in this case,” Becerik said. “He is a part of the
case for sure, but not the defining part.”

Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent and the editor-in-chief
of Agos, was murdered in front of his newspaper’s office in Istanbul
in January 2007.

According to Becerik, the lawyers’ demand for the European court’s
decision to play a role in an ongoing trial would be a first both in
Turkey and Europe, with the exception of prolonged arrest periods. She
claimed it would not have been possible for the current suspects to
have planned a political murder so professionally, and that the case
would not be settled even if they were given the strictest possible
sentences.

She said if their demand is not met, then the lawyers will take the
case to the European court again.

The European court decision will be final Dec. 14, following a
three-month period during which it is open to objections. The Istanbul
court dealing with the Dink case has decided to wait for this period
to end before making a ruling, although both Turkish authorities and
the Dink family have stated they will not object.

Samast’s actual age was a matter of question in the first years of
the trial, but Becerik said the issue has since been settled. “We did
the research when he was first captured. He was born in a hospital
and has a brother younger than him. It is not possible for his age
to have been lowered,” she said, adding that the necessary tests and
x-rays have been done to block legal ways to question his age on the
day of the murder.

Speaking about the case Tuesday, State Minister Cemil Cicek said,
“Everybody under 18 is a minor.” He added that laws are not written for
specific persons or cases and that the application of recently changed
Law No. 6008, commonly known as the “stone-throwing children’s law,”
was not inconsistent with its aim of easing the plight of juveniles
charged under Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws.

Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay took a different approach Tuesday,
saying he “met the development with regret.”

Main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal
Kılıcdaroglu said children who throw stones at security forces
should not be treated the same as those who fire guns.

From: A. Papazian

HIPPIE WHO DISCOVERED ANJUNA BEACH DIES IN GOA

Daily News & Analysis

Oct 26 2010
India

Yertward Mazamanian alias Eddie, a hippie who discovered Anjuna beach
in Goa for the rest of the world, died in the coastal state last week,
his friends revealed.

The 85-year-old Eddie, known as Eight Finger Eddie, was an American
expat of Armenian ancestry, who discovered Anjuna beach for rest of
the world in 1965 and stayed here till he breathed last on October 18.

Tony Almeida, whose father Joe was the first person to meet Edie at
Anjuna, said that he had actually come to Colva beach in South Goa.

“He moved northwards after hearing from the locals about this stretch
of shore,” Almeida said.

He is also called as the father of the hippie tribe in Goa.

In the 1960s, few beatniks and hippies travelled from Western Europe
towards South Asia. Eddie was the first amongst them.

“Eddie and his companion came to Anjuna after walking through dense
forest in 1965. It was a place at the foothill overlooking Arabian
Sea,” Tony said today.

Eddie was also the mind behind Anjuna’s flea market in 1975 which
initially began as a place to barter goods.

The flea market still exists at Anjuna although it has been turned
into a cluster of shops.

Eddie continued hogging the limelight even after his death.

The page devoted to this first hippie on Facebook has been receiving
comments from all across the globe.

His fans also had live streaming of his funeral on website Blogtv.com
on October 18.

From: A. Papazian

18-YEAR-OLD ARMENIAN SHOT IN LOS ANGELES

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Los Angeles, Oct. 17, 18-year- old Vardan Avetyan was shot and killed.

Vardan Avetyan was standing with several friends near the parking lot
in North Hollywood, when a man of Hispanic appearance approached and
shot at Avetyan several times, informs the press service of the LA
Police Department.

Avatyan was taken to a local hospital in critical condition where he
died shortly after.

The suspect fled the scene of the murder on a blue car.

The police have no information about the motives of the crime.

From: A. Papazian

NAKHICHEVAN IS THE APPLE OF TURKEY’S EYE

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Nakhichevan is the apple of our eye, it is very important to us.

Therefore, we will protect it. This was stated by Minister of State
Foreign Trade of Turkey Zafer Caglayan after a meeting with the
Chairman of the Supreme Majlis of Nakhichevan Vasif Talibov.

At a meeting with businessmen at the Turkey and Nakhichevan border
crossing, Chaglayan said that Turkey will not open borders with
Armenia until the Karabakh problem is resolved, Anadolu agency writes.

Azerbaijan-Turkey business forum is being held a Nakhichevan.

From: A. Papazian

ENEOLITHIC PEOPLE FOUND IN ARMENIA

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Well-preserved burial places of people of the eneolithic age have
been found in the caves of Arni 1, Vaiots Dzor, Armenia. Excavations
are conducted in cooperation with archeologists from the University
of California (USA) and University College Cork (UCC) (Ireland),
head of the Armenian team Boris Gasparyan said.

He said that the specialists have found the bodies of adults and
children in clay tombs. Children’s bodies are intact, whereas the
adults were dismembered. The find is a unique opportunity to find
out the children’s genetic code by means of DNA analyses. This, in
turn, will supply scientists with valuable information on the humans’
genetic evolution.

However, deciphering the genetic code is a most expensive procedure,
laboratory analyses cost ~@60,000, Gasparyan said.

Since colors were not widely spread in the Armenian territory in the
eneolithic age, the colorful vessels with the sun and animals painted
on them are most interesting.

The excavations are of paramount importance for putting together
the picture of Armenia’s ancient past and of the cultural and
historical picture of Western Asia in the eneolithic age. This year
the archeologists have found a drinking horn of the eneolithic age
in Areni 1. The excavations started in 2007, and the most ancient
leather shoe was found in a cave the next year.

NEWS.am reminds readers that a 5,500-year-old shoe was found in
September 2008. A number of research centers confirmed the age of
the finding as a result of independent research.

The 23.5-cm-long and 7.6- to 10-cm-wide moccasin-like shoe was
well-preserved due to a layer of sheep droppings, which blocked
the air.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA MAY LOSE PEACE IN KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS, HERITAGE MP SAYS

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

If things go on like this, the Armenian side will lose peace in
the Karabakh peace process, though it won the Karabakh war, Head of
“Heritage” parliamentary faction Stepan Safaryan told NEWS.am.

According to him, today the rules of the game at the negotiating table
are contrary with interests of the conflicting parties, as a second
referendum on self-determination must be conducted in Nagorno-Karabakh
with Azerbaijan’s permission.

“In this case Azerbaijan will have to hold a referendum as well,”
Safaryan noted. He considered the talks flawed as Stepanakert is not
directly involved in them. ‘Thirdly, the return of Armenia-controlled
territories conflicts with Armenian side’s interests,” Safaryan
underscored.

The only way to change rules of the game at the negotiating table is
recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenia, the MP concluded.

From: A. Papazian