Author: Andres-Papazian

Armenian Delegation to Head For China On Sunday

YEREVAN, September 18. /ARKA/. An Armenian delegation headed by Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan travel to China on Sunday for a four-day
visit, the Armenian government’s press office reports.

David Sargsyan, head of the government’s administration, Nerses
Yeritsyan, economy minister, Hasmik Poghosyan, culture minister, and
Karine Ghazinyan, deputy foreign minister, will be among the
delegation members.

The Armenian premier is set to meet with First Vice Premier Li
Keqiang, and First Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Guangya and other
high-ranking officials in Beijing.

On Monday, the governmental delegation will be present at the
celebration of Armenia’s Independence Day in Armenian Embassy in
Beijing.

On Tuesday, the Armenian premier will attend and event dedicated to
the National Day of Armenia.

This event will be held as part of Shanghai Expo 2010 exhibition.

Armenia presents the Geopolis (World City) project at Shanghai Expo 2010.

The project implies construction of a unique city with national
districts of various countries in it.
Every country will have own district here.

The Shanghai Expo 2010 opened on May 1 and will last until October 30.

Some 20 countries and international organizations are taking part in
the exhibition. -0–

From: A. Papazian

Monsters and Critics.com
Sept 19 2010

Thousands attend historic mass in former Armenian church in Turkey
Sep 19, 2010, 15:03 GMT

Van, Turkey – The first mass in some 95 years was held Sunday in a
recently restored Armenian church in eastern Turkey.

The two neighbouring countries have been at loggerheads for nearly a
century over Turkey’s alleged genocide of Armenians under Ottoman rule
during the First World War.

The church, located on Akdamar island in Turkey’s Lake Van, is
considered a museum but officials opened it up for religious services
for one day.

The two-hour mass was led by Archbishop Aram Atesyan of the Armenian
Patriarchate of Turkey. The ancient church can only fit some 50 people
inside, but officials estimated that some 4,000 people came to the
island to hear the mass, which was broadcast on large screen
televisions outside.

‘This church, which is a valuable piece of art, is a cultural monument
that belongs to the whole humanity. On this occasion, we would like to
express our thanks to the state and government of Republic of Turkey
for restoring and protecting this building,’ Atesyan said in a speech
made during the service.

The church was built some one thousand years before when the Van area
was ruled by an Armenian king. It was in use by the local Armenian
community until 1915, when the region’s Armenians were forcibly
expelled by the Ottomans.

The Turkish authorities restored it between 2005 and 2007.

The event drew large of groups of Armenians from abroad, many who had
never been back to visit the land of their grandparents before.

‘I never imagined I would be attending a service here,’ Harry
Parsekian, an Armenian living in Boston whose parents were born in
Turkey, told German Press Agency dpa. ‘It’s very significant.’

The event was not without controversy, though. Although a large metal
church had been donated to the Patriarchate in Istanbul to be placed
on the church’s roof, officials balked at doing so, claiming it was
too heavy.

Several groups as well as religious officials from Armenian ended up
canceling their visit.

From: A. Papazian

Southeast European Times
Sept 19 2010

Armenian cathedral to open for worship

19/09/2010

ANKARA, Turkey — An historic Armenian cathedral located on Akdamar
Island in eastern Turkey will be opened for worship for the first time
in 95 years on Sunday (September 19th). Some 5,000 people are expected
to attend the liturgy. The 10th century church was renovated and
opened in 2007 as a museum. It will host a religious service once a
year, as approved by the Van governor’s office and the Tourism
Ministry. Opening of the Holy Cross cathedral to religious worshippers
is seen as a gesture towards reconciliation with Armenians and a sign
of religious tolerance. (BBC, CNN, Anadolu news agency, Xinhua –
18/09/10)

From: A. Papazian

The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
755 Mount Auburn St.
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel: (617) 924-4420
Fax: (617) 924-2887
Web:
E-mail: [email protected]

September 19, 2010

1. Heritage Park Ceremonial Groundbreaking, Blessing, amid Nostalgia, Hope
for Future
2. An Explosive Book

******************************

1. Heritage Park Ceremonial Groundbreaking, Blessing, amid Nostalgia, Hope
for Future

By Alin Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff

BOSTON – About 1,000 members of the Greater Boston Armenian community came
together as one on Thursday, September 9, for the ceremonial groundbreaking
and blessing of the Armenian Heritage Park along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
Greenway.

The audience, comprising everyone from infants to seniors, and from every
church and Armenian organization in the state, witnessed as Catholicos of
All Armenians Karekin II, in only his third trip to the United States, took
the stage to bless the site and recite a prayer for the souls of Armenian
Genocide martyrs as well as the generations to come.

Karekin II performed a service of blessing of the site and prayer for the
soul of the martyrs, as well as a prayer for peace and prosperity in the
Commonwealth.

Speaking in English, Karekin II thanked the community for extending an
invitation to him `to be in Boston and to share in this happy occasion. Your
city has played an important role in America,’ he said, where the
`undefeatable spirit of my people’ has found a home.

The Armenians who fled the Ottoman Empire, he said, `were received with care
and kindness. They became worthy citizens of this great country. [Later] our
boys fought alongside their Irish, Italian and African-American neighbors’
in World War II.

This monument, he said, is in memory of all victims of genocide, including
the Holocaust, Rwanda, Cambodia and Darfur.

`It is a symbol of survival, rebirth, renewal and service.’

He thanked the city of Boston and the Commonwealth for `their friendship,
support and steadfast adherence to the values of tolerance, equality and
love.’

And to the Armenians in the audience, he said, `We bring thanks from the
Homeland for keeping your Armenian values and culture. May God bless you now
and forever.’

Joining Karekin II on stage were Gov. Deval Patrick, US Rep. Michael Capuano
(D- 8th District), state Rep. Peter Koutoujian (D-Waltham), Boston Mayor
Thomas Menino and Heritage Park Foundation President James Kalustian.

Karekin II was flanked by the Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern) Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Prelate of the Prelacy of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) Oshagan Choloyan and Diocesan
Legate Archbishop Vicken Aykazian.

Similarly, members of the clergy from the Diocese and the Prelacy stood
together.

Among other dignitaries present and pointed out by Koutoujian, who served as
emcee, were former Massachusetts governor, Michael Dukakis, and his wife,
Kitty, as well as former state Representatives Rachel Kaprielian and Warren
Tolman, state Representatives Jonathan Hecht (D-Watertown) and Aaron
Michlewitz (D-North End), and state Senators Steven Tolman (D-2nd Suffolk
and Middlesex Districts) and Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston).

Koutoujian said that the realization of the park was touching for him and
the people of his generation, as he grew up with grandparents who tried to
erase the memories of what they had seen during the Genocide in their new
country.

The location of the park, Koutoujian said, was especially appropriate, as it
is flanked by Faneuil Hall, where `some of the first debates on human
rights’ took place, and a park honoring Christopher Columbus, at the edge of
Boston’s North End.

Menino said Boston is made up of neighborhoods and that diversity is what
makes the city such a popular destination.

He also pointed out and thanked Peter Meade, chairman of the Rose Kennedy
Greenway Conservancy, for his efforts; the crowd was tepid at best in
clapping for him, as he was a long-time opponent of the project.

The residents of the mostly Italian-American North End neighborhood were
universally praised for their cooperation during the protracted process.

Menino spoke about the residents’ solidarity with their Armenian
compatriots. `They got the job done the right way,’ said Menino. `Yes we had
a few bumps in the road, but =85 not only does this pay tribute to our
diversity, it pays tribute to our heritage – without taxpayer dollars.’

Capuano, who represents the North End in the House and who is a member of
the House Caucus on Armenian Affairs, said the celebration of ethnic
heritage by various communities `doesn’t make us different; it makes us
respectful.’

He added, `The North End welcomed the Armenian people.’

He both acknowledged the Genocide and praised Turkey as a vital US ally.

`People try to rewrite history. The Armenian Genocide is one of [those
cases], he said.

`I regard the Turkish government as an ally, but that doesn’t give them the
right to deny history.’ He concluded his remarks by saying,
`Congratulations. It’s been a long time coming.’

Patrick, who received thunderous applause, thanked his `brothers and
sisters,’ adding, `I am so proud to stand with you today and to pay tribute
to human perseverance. It is an acknowledgement of a historical event that
cannot be denied; it must be acknowledged, but it has value beyond that
tragedy.’

`Every ethnic group wants to do better than previous generations. This is a
remarkable country unlike any other in human history. We are organized
around a handful of civic ideas,’ rather than an ethnic background, common
religion or point of origin, he said.

*Knights, Kalustian Praised*

Koutoujian praised Charlie Guleserian and Haig Deranian of the Knights of
Vartan, as well as `the third guardian,’ James Kalustian, for making the
park a reality.

He said of Kalustian, `No one else could have brought us to this point.’ The
38 board members of the foundation, he said, voted unanimously on every
decision, no mean feat, thanks to Kalustian’s team-building efforts, he
said.

Kalustian, visibly touched, thanked the Armenian community for giving `a
gift of $6 million’ to the City of Boston, as not only the park will be
constructed with funds raised privately, but it will be maintained with this
fund. In addition, a related lecture series will be launched on human rights
at Faneuil Hall, again funded privately, in that case, by George and Dr.
Carolann Najarian.

The park, Kalustian said, is a tribute to Armenians who escaped `tragedy
and
misfortune and found safety in the harbor of Boston. =85 We have not and will
not forget the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide and we have to make sure’
that similar catastrophes do not occur again.

He stressed that Armenians in the state do not define themselves solely by
the Genocide; indeed, he said, the community has produced many notables in
the world of art, including Arshile Gorky, Yusuf Karsh and Alan Hovhaness,
as well as people like Moses Gulesian, whose efforts saved Old Ironsides
from being turned into scrap metal.

Speaking in Armenian, he said the community is `one spirit and one body,
in
order to help realize the dream of our people.’ Kalustian thanked Patrick as
`a man of integrity and character. He did it because [he felt] it was the
right thing to do. Governor Patrick, thank you does not seem enough.’

He also thanked committee member Barbara Tellalian, and her husband,
architect Donald Tellalian, who designed the site and the monument that will
go on it. He also thanked `all our friends in the North End and the
Waterfront District.’

Donald Tellalian, speaking after the event, agreed, `our friends in the
North End thought it was terrific.’

He noted that he has been involved with the project for seven years. `I was
really very impressed by the pomp and circumstance of it all and very
pleased to see that so many of our community came out to celebrate this
event. I am very, very, pleased that Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick again
showed their support. It speaks to the friendships that Jim Kalustian has
made and the relationships that Peter Koutoujian has.’

Victoria Avetisyan and Yeghishe Manucharian sang the Armenian and American
national anthems, while a chorus comprising members of the Holy Trinity, St.
James and St. Stephen’s Armenian Churches’ choruses, sang hymns.

Also present were students from St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School, as
well as the Armenian Sisters’ Academy.

The park is expected to be completed within one year.

********************************************************************

2. An Explosive Book

*By Edmond Y. Azadian*

Turkey was the `sick man’ of Europe throughout the 19th century. That
sickness transformed over time and changed character with succeeding regime
changes in Turkey: Ottoman, Ittihadist, Republican and today Islamist. But
Turkish society remained sick and that is the main reason that the country
is agonizing at the gates of Europe, its destiny hanging in the air.

It is one thing when the victims of the `sick man’ identify the nature
of
that sickness but it is completely something else when the Turks themselves
realize the source of the sickness as they try to seek remedies for the
ailment.

It is this kind of realization – actually a revelation – that is brought to
light by a prominent Turkish author and activist Erol Özkoray in a book in
French titled *Turquie: Le Putsh Permanent*, published recently by the
Chobanian Institute, soon to be translated into English by the Armenian
Rights Council of America.

The Chobanian Institute was founded in Paris, by Jean Varoujan Sirapian, the
former chairman of the ADL Chapter in Paris, on the 50th anniversary of
Arshag Chobanian’s death and on the eve of European Union/Turkey
negotiations. Ever since, the institute has published several scholarly
volumes; it has developed contacts with senators and parliament members and
above all, it has supplied scholarly documents to the French
Parliamentarians working towards the passage of the Armenian Genocide
resolution in that body.

Ashag Chobanian was a one-man committee for the Armenian cause in France. He
single-handedly exposed to the European leaders the plight of the Armenian
people in the Ottoman Empire before the Genocide and its rights afterwards.
He enlisted prominent French thinkers in favor of the Armenian cause, such
as Anatole France, Jean Jaures and others.

Chobanian also understood that before pleading – or along with pleading
–
for the plight of the Armenians, he had to extol the cultural achievements
of his people, in order to underline the fact that murder in Ottoman Empire
was not being committed against a primitive race, but a nation of remarkable
cultural achievements. For many Westerners, Armenians, Kurds and Jews in the
Ottoman Empire were inferior races, therefore their extermination did not
diminish the human civilization. Figures subscribing to this view included
the French orientalist writer Pierre Lothy and the American Admiral Mark
Bristol; the latter portrayed all Armenians, Kurds, Cherkezes and others as
snakes in a bag poisoning each other.

Chobanian went against that tide. He countered that trend, writing essays in
French publications about Armenian history. He translated medieval Armenian
poetry into French to win the admiration of the French literary elite.

Today, Sirapian emulates Chobanian’s mission, almost singlehandedly, mostly
receiving support from French, Kurdish, Turkish human rights activists and
statesmen.

Among the many scholarly books and magazines, the Chobanian Institute has
released Erol Özkoray’s book in which the author is delving into
self-analysis as a Turk to define, diagnose and, if possible, heal the ills
of his nation, the Turkish society. To state that Özkoray is paying lip
service to the Armenians would be far from the truth. Living a
politically-active life in France, contributing to prestigious French
publications such as *Le Monde*, he delves into an introspection of the
political psyche of Turkey to realize that the country has been on the wrong
path and that the European Union has gradually realized how deeply
antidemocracy is rooted in Turkey’s political system.

Turkey became a candidate for membership of the European Union in 1999, but
in those last 11 years, its human rights record remains abominable, believes
Özkoray, because there is a duality in the Executive Branch. People elect
their representatives to legislative and executive branches, but the actual
rulers are the military and as the recent Ergenekon investigations have
revealed, there is a `deep state’ in action, which defines and executes the
country’s policies.

Since 1980, the country has been under military control, after Gen. Kenan
Evren otherthrew the elected government and in 1982 drafted and promulgated
a constitution, basically transferring power into the hands of the military,
never mind popular elections, which amount to a political charade. The
National Security Council remains the ruling junta in the country, deposing
any elected official at will, should that official overstep the `red line,’
like it happened to Necmettin Erbakan in recent years.

Özkoray even goes back in history, to the very founding of the Turkish
Republic in 1923 by Ataturk, who supposedly established a lay governing
system, eliminating the role of the clergy, reforming the language and even
setting dress codes. Özkoray finds that when the present Republic of Turkey
was being founded, democracy, as we know it, was not popular. There were
dictators all around: Horthy in Hungary, Pilsudski in Poland, Metaxas in
Greece, Franco in Spain and Salazar in Portugal. There were also three
totalitarian regimes devising the law in Europe: Musolini in Italy, Stalin
in the USSR and Hitler in Germany. Therefore, Ataturk founded Turkey in the
spirit of fascism, which by an expert Pierre Milza is called a `fascism of
the left’ and which another specialist, Maurice Duverger, calls a
`benevolent despotism.’

The author also takes issue with Ataturk’s population engineering, which
portrayed the population of Turkey as 99 percent Turk and Sunni, regardless
of the 15 million Kurds and 22 million Alevis. Greeks, Armenians and Jews
were pushed to the margins, their destinies to be defined whimsically by the
Treaty of Lausanne of 1923. A process of forced homogenation of population
was executed. [Gen. Kenan Evren is compared to the bloody ruler of Chile,
General Pinochet. Indeed, as recently as a year ago, the Turkish general
came out of retirement to announce that `his hands did not tremble in
signing the death warrants of politicians, and that he would do the same
today, if he had to.’]

Now that Erdogan’s new constitution won the right to bring the Putschists to
justice, we have to wait and see – the proof of the pudding will be in its
eating.

Özkoray enumerates seven attempted coup d’etats between 2002 and 2009
against the Kurds, Alevis, Armenians, Islamists, Socialists, liberals and
the partisans of the European Union. All these groups are considered
`internal enemies’ by the military and they constitute 50 million people out
of 72 million total population, meaning 70 percent are on the watch list of
`enemies.’

To justify its grip on power, the military triggers artificial crises; the
occupation of Cyprus, the sovereignty over the Aegean islands, the Turkish
minority in Greece, the status of the ecumenical Greek Patriarch in
Istanbul, etc.

>From time to time, the civilian government makes some overtures on different
issues, but the problems are never solved because the National Security
Council has set guidelines establishing taboos on the following issues: to
contain the Kurdish population, to avoid fragmentation of the country; never
compromise on the Cyprus problem; preserve the government’s lay status
untouchable; fight against the Orthodox Church in the country and never
accept the use of the term `genocide.’

These are the political parameters within which any civilian government has
to operate, hiding the `deep state’ in the background.

The system set up by the military is such that the individual is crushed
under the perceived interest of the state. This perception is promoted
systematically by the Dogan group, which own several influential newspapers
and TV stations.

Since the establishment of the military rule, 2,330,000 people have been
arrested and tortured.

Under the systematic brain washing, people are programmed to think in a
pattern, which will never lead to democracy.

Thus, Özkoray gives certain amazing statistics, which are very indicative
insights, into the system which can never correct itself and adhere to
democratic rule: only 11 percent of Turks believe that freedom of expression
is important; 73 percent don’t trust strangers, they are xenophobic; 74
percent believe in the rule of the military; 55 percent refuse to have Jews
as their neighbors and 90 percent are happy that they are Turks.

This last statistic justifies Ataturk’s racist motto, which is posted
everywhere in Turkey: `Happy is he who says he is a Turk.’

With the recent Erdogan victory approving the new constitution, the Islamist
government believes that a new dawn is breaking in Turkey and that democracy
is on the March.

But those who read Özkoray’s book are convinced that in its present set-up,
its restless minorities, internal contradictions between Islamists and
Kemalists, the country is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode at any
moment.

From: A. Papazian

news.am, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

Struggle against Turkish-Azeri propaganda necessary, Armenian scholar says

September 19, 2010 | 16:06

Today’s initiative is a response to Turkey’s actions, its second
trick, Director of the Museum of the Armenian Genocide Hayk Demoyan
told journalists. He pointed out that Turkey has destroyed the results
of its own propaganda with its own hands.

«We must hold rallies of protest to say we will not allow the Turkish
Government’s further manipulations. We will not let Turkey, which is
not meeting its international commitments, continue showing disrespect
for Armenian Christian values,» Demoyan said. He pointed out that the
international community is concealing its attitude to the Turkish
Government’s behavior, as it is the second time that Turkey has used
Surb Khach church for propaganda.

The situation would be quite different if Turkey would renovate a
number of churches during one year and placed them at the Armenian
community’s disposal. Most of them are either half-destroyed or were
turned into mosques.

It is incorporated in the Treaty of Lausanne signed by the Turkish Government.

As regard the possibility of international pressure on Turkey by means
of international norms, Demoyan said: «The matter concerns sanctions
and a country failing to meet its international commitments. Today we
have gathered here because of Surb Khach church on Akhtamar, but on
December 15 we will mark the fifth anniversary of destruction of
khachkars (cross-stones) by Azeri soldiers in Juga».

Nakhichevan is under Turkey’s great influence, which suggests that a
certain force allowed the Azeri action and then passed the fact over
in silence.

«We must, by means of a serious document or public initiative, make
this fact available to public. If we keep silent, this process will go
on until all the stone records of once united Armenia will be wiped
off the ground. It is most importance, as western or eastern Armenia
was never marked on ancient maps. Taking advantage of our silence,
they are destroying our historical monuments. So we must remain active
next year as well,» Demoyan said.

The Museum of the Armenian Genocide plans to release a reference book
in English for international institutions.

«This December we are going to raise the issue of Juga khachkars at
the highest level, s we have all the proofs of barbaric acts. We must
struggle against Turkish-Azeri propaganda,» Demoyan said.

In December 2005, about 100 Azeri soldiers destroyed cross-stones and
gravestones in Old Juga.

From: A. Papazian

Armenian church brought back to life

19 September 2010

By Jonathan Head

BBC News, Lake Van, Turkey

There had not been a service at the Church of the Holy Cross for the
past 95 years
There can be few settings for a church as lovely as Akdamar island in
Lake Van, Turkey, and few churches that fit that setting so well as
the 1,100 year-old Armenian Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross.

With a backdrop of rugged mountains and the impossibly blue waters of
Lake Van, it is a heavenly spot to hear a church Mass; and yet for the
past 95 years, there had not been one, until Sunday.

Continue reading the main story
`
Start Quote
My parents are dead, my grandparents are dead, and I’m left with the
memory of what this place was to them. Armenians were here for three
millennia’
End Quote
Paul Shahenian
Listening to the glorious sounds of the ancient Armenian liturgy in
that setting was a profoundly moving experience; hundreds of Armenians
had travelled, from Istanbul and also from the diaspora – from the
United States, from Greece, Germany, even Armenia itself – to
celebrate this symbolic reconnection with the land of their ancestors.

It was all the more moving, knowing they were praying among the ruins
of the monastery – there was no room for them inside the 42-sq-m
(452-sq-ft) nave of the church; the monks and priests were all killed
in 1915, along with most of the population of the area.

The decision to allow the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul to hold a
Mass there was made by the governing AKP, the party believes both in
loosening restrictions on religion imposed by the secular state, and
in improving relations with Turkey’s minority groups.

“We believe that it is very important gesture towards freedom of
faith,” the provincial governor, Munir Karaoglu, told the BBC.

“Also we believe that it is important to eradicate the prejudices
between the Turkish and Armenian people. It could also help improve
relations Turkey and Armenia.”

New beginning

Those who had chosen to come saw this as a positive step by Turkey
towards confronting its history in this area.

“Let’s just say that this is a beginning,” said Harry Parsekian, a
retired estate agent from Boston, whose parents escaped the Armenian
killings.

“I hope the Turkish authorities realise that this is an opening – it’s
just a symbolic gesture right now.”

For others, coming back was difficult. Paul Shahenian had never been
to Turkey before. His family came from Van, and his grandparents
barely escaped the mass slaughter which began in April 1915.

“Coming here is a bittersweet experience,” he said.

The Turkish authorities have not allowed a cross to be erected on the
church’s dome for the service “My parents are dead, my grandparents
are dead, and I’m left with the memory of what this place was to them.
Armenians were here for three millennia. Even if the Turkish
government wanted to reconcile, I don’t know how they would begin. So
I think this is a very good first step.”

Paul said there had been strong pressure on his family not to come
from the rest of the Armenian community.

Many Armenians boycotted this service, either because they do not
trust a government which will not acknowledge the 1915 killings as a
genocide, or over the government’s refusal to hand the church back to
the Armenian Patriarchate.

It is still officially a state museum, and the authorities would not
allow a cross to be erected on the dome for the service.

So the numbers were smaller than expected – a few hundred, rather than
the thousands the local government had been hoping to welcome.

The crush of journalists and the crowds of curious local sightseers
who had been encouraged to come to the island for the occasion also
robbed it of any spiritual atmosphere.

‘Be braver’

The church was built by the Armenian King Gagik in the 10th Century,
and is the most complete ancient Armenian building left in Turkey.

As such it is very important to the Armenian community’s sense of
historical connection to this area – and that may be the reason the
government is so wary of handing the church back.

Nationalists in Turkey still fear that Armenia has designs on their
eastern provinces.

After all, the city of Van was briefly taken over by the Armenian
community in 1915 after an armed uprising.

At the Treaty of Sevres in 1920, following the Ottoman defeat in World
War I, the city was awarded to a new Armenian state.

It was only with the military successes of Turkish nationalists under
Ataturk that the city reverted to Turkish rule.

“This government has been better than all the others,” said Rober
Koptas, editor-in-chief of Agos, the main Armenian newspaper in
Istanbul.

“They renovated the church, which is great. But they must be braver.
This was not enough. Most of Turkish society is ready to accept this
is an Armenian church. Now it is the government’s turn.”

From: A. Papazian

president.am, Armenia
Sept 19 2010

President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan’s statement at the ceremony of
awarding the Victor Hambardzumian International Prize

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Awardees and Guests,

Today, I am honored and pleased to award the Victor Hambardzumian
International Prize. This is a new event in our life which testifies
to a great interest that Armenia has toward astronomy, astrophysics
and adjoining fields. It also testifies to the importance that our
public opinion and public perception assign to the achievements in
this area. The great personality, who shaped this opinion and
perception, was Victor Hambardzumian, a world-famous astrophysicist,
who created the Byurakan observatory and established scientific
school. His exceptional personality became a role model for many young
Armenian men and women and they chose careers in astronomy and
astrophysics, achieving impressive results on the international arena.

Foreign specialists of the history of astronomy were the first to
recognize the territory of historical Armenia as the cradle of the
science of astronomy, and later they were joined by the Armenian
specialists who brought new evidence to the fact. Numerous sites
Armenia are considered to be ancient observatories. Explorations of
our forefathers were successfully carried on by Victor Hambardzumian
and other representatives of the Armenian school of astronomy.

I am happy that our Prize has found its first deserving laureates. I
cordially congratulate them on this success and wish new scientific
achievements. With this Prize, dear awardees, we not only recognize
your achievements but also endeavor to bring wide public recognition
to the discoveries which are of universal significance.

In our pragmatic times, discovery and classification of new celestial
bodies and their centers outside the solar system, which are not
directly linked to profit and financial proceeds, can be viewed as a
very romantic endeavor. However we are confident that such scientific
achievements ultimately expanded our horizons and borders of our
knowledge and propelled the human civilization forward.

All people look into skies – some occasionally, some frequently –
however there are people who see in the skies a lot more that we do.
Today, in this hall we celebrate these very people – Professor of the
University of Geneva Michel Mayor and his scientific team, who saw and
told the world of the things that the world didn’t know yet.

I thank the organizers of the competition and the members of the
selection commission – they have done a great job and impartially have
chosen the best. I wish the commission to continue to uphold high
standards.

It is very inspiring, that in the process of establishing the prize
fund, the state was joined by Lyus and Pyunik Foundations. My special
thanks go to the people who had trust in the potential of this
initiative and made it possible through their gracious donations. In
this regard, I would like to particularly recognize Hrant Vardanian
and Gabriel Jambarjian. I thank these individuals. It is very
important that projects like this one are supported not only by the
state but also by individuals.

The Victor Hambardzumian Prize should foster science development and
be worthy of the great talent and memory of the Armenian scientist and
patriot. In perspective, the Prize will become a great impetus for the
development of astronomy in Armenia and science in general. We have
established this Prize with that conviction, and I am proud that it
has become a fact, and I congratulate us all on that occasion.

Thank you.

From: A. Papazian

Bikya Masr , Egypt
Sept 19 2010

HRW to Turkey: Uncover plot behind journalist’s murder

Turkish authorities should redouble their efforts to bring to justice
all those involved in the killing of Hrant Dink, Human Rights Watch
said Thursday, following a ruling on September 14, 2010, of the
European Court of Human Rights. The court ruled that Turkey should
have, but failed to, take steps to protect Dink, the prominent
Armenian-Turkish journalist, and failed to conduct an effective
investigation into his murder in January 2007. The European Court
ordered the government to pay his family 105,000 in damages.

A murder trial of the alleged gunman and 19 other defendants in the
case has been ongoing for three years. But the European Court ruled
that Turkish administrative and judicial authorities have blocked
investigations into whether members of the Istanbul and Trabzon police
and gendarmerie were also implicated in the killing.

`The European Court’s damning verdict should not be the end of efforts
to deliver justice for Hrant Dink’s murder,’ said Emma Sinclair-Webb,
Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch. `Turkey now has an
unambiguous duty to reopen the investigation and cast the net wider
than those currently on trial. Both legal obligations and justice
require addressing state negligence and possible collusion in the
killing.’

Only days before Dink was murdered, his lawyers had applied to the
European Court of Human Rights, contending that his freedom of
expression and right to a fair trial had been violated after he was
convicted of `insulting Turkishness.’ Following his murder, lawyers
acting for his family lodged four more separate applications to the
European Court, contending that the Turkish authorities had failed to
protect Dink’s life and to conduct an effective investigation into his
murder. The European Court decided to consider all the applications
together.

The European Court ruled that Turkey’s Court of Cassation’s decision
to uphold Dink’s conviction for `insulting Turkishness’ had
constituted a restriction on his free speech since his writings
neither incited hatred nor violence. The European Court also ruled
that the Turkish authorities had not only failed to uphold his right
to free speech, but had failed to protect his life despite repeated
and detailed intelligence reports about plans to assassinate him. The
Court also held that local state authorities had been negligent and
engaged in misconduct that led to a violation of their duty to protect
Dink’s life.

Successive Turkish governments have responded to judgments by the
European Court holding Turkey in violation of the European Convention
on Human Rights by paying the stipulated compensation to victims, but
without taking further steps to implement rulings. In cases where the
European Court has held Turkey responsible for violating the right to
life, Turkish authorities have repeatedly failed to reopen
investigations or to take concrete steps to identify those responsible
for killings.

Following the ruling on the Dink case, however, the Foreign Affairs
Ministry stated that Turkey would not appeal the decision and that it
would take all possible steps to implement the ruling and take
measures to prevent future violations.

`The initial response of the Turkish government to the ruling is a
positive change,’ Sinclair-Webb said. `If Ankara is serious about
implementing the ruling, it needs to end restrictions on free speech
by repealing restrictive laws and protect the right to speak out.’

Background

Hrant Dink, the founding editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian
newspaper Agos, was a courageous champion of open debate, dialogue,
and cooperation between all communities in Turkey, and a man committed
to democratization and human rights. He was shot dead outside his
office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. Dink’s killing was apparently
politically and ethnically motivated; he was identified by his
murderers as an Armenian who had been convicted in court for
`insulting Turkishness.’

Dink had been prosecuted for an article in which he discussed Armenian
identity. In July 2006 the General Penal Board of the Court of
Cassation, Turkey’s court of appeal, upheld a six-month suspended
sentence under article 301, a provision of the Turkish penal code that
criminalized `publicly insulting Turkishness.’ Dink was prosecuted
again in September 2006 under the same provision for using the term
`genocide’ in a statement made to the Reuters news agency to describe
the massacres of Armenians in Anatolia at the end of the Ottoman
Empire.

The defendants in the Dink murder trial in Istanbul Heavy Penal Court
No. 14 are the alleged gunman, who was 17 years old at the time of the
murder and was apprehended shortly after the killing, and 19 other
defendants who, like the gunman, are mostly young men from the Pelitli
district of Trabzon sharing ultranationalist political sympathies.

HRW

From: A. Papazian

IndyPosted
Sept 19 2010

Rare Mass Held in Historic Armenian Church in Turkey

Posted in International by Rudi Stettner with View Comments

A Mass was held at the historic Armenian Church of Surp Khach in
Turkey, a house of worship that was inaugurated in the year 921 CE, AP
has reported. This marked the first time that services were held in
the church since 95 years ago,during the Armenian genocide.

Although the church had been restored by the Turkish government, it
was opened until now only as a museum. Now, the Turkish government has
allowed services once a year as a goodwill gesture to Turkey’s tiny
community of Armenian Christians.

Armenians from Turkey, Armenia and Georgia flocked to the historic
event at the sandstone church that had survived for almost 1100 years.
The gesture of conciliation by the Turkish government was not without
its limits. A large, cast iron cross that was once at the top of the
heavily scarred church was not in place for the services, a fact that
sparked a boycott of the services by many Armenians. One such
individual, Hovhannes Nikoghosyan, of the Yerevan-based Public Policy
Institute, noted as follows in his letter to Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan as follows.

`It’s a direct impiety towards Armenians to deny installing the cross
on dome of the church and, moreover, holding it away from under the
direct auspices of the Istanbul Patriarchy of the Armenian Apostolic
Church as in the cases of other religious monuments of the Armenians
on those holy lands. A religious ceremony in an uncrossed, unhallowed
church, which Your Government has re-opened solely as a museum in
2007, will not complete its anticipated aim of bridging our different
perspectives over joint past under the Ottoman years.’

The Turkish government, eager to forge closer ties to and possibly
even join the EU, has been trying to show its tolerance towards its
ethnic and religious minorities. The opening of the Church of Surp
Khach, as well as other gestures towards Turkey’s minorities are best
s seen in this context.

The smallest gesture or expression in Turkey can be fraught with
political implications. Even referring to the murder of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide is hotly contested by secular and religious
Turks, who contend that the deaths were a byproduct of a civil war.

In a related development, the Turks have announced their intention to
allow the reopening of the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary, which was
closed in 1971 because of tensions with Greece. A sticking point that
has stalled the reopining of the Halki seminary has been the
insistence of the Turkish government that only Turkish citizens be
allowed to study there, effectively excluding the vast majority of
Greek Orthodox believers from attending the school.

Whether it is a true change of heart or political expediency, a slow
thaw seems to be coming to the relationship between Greece and its
Christian minorities. Though glacially slow by western standards,
change seems to be coming to Turkey.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman , Turkey
Sept 19 2010

Religious ceremony held in Armenian church in Turkey’s east after 95 years

A religious ceremony was held Sunday at a historical Armenian church
located in an eastern Turkish province for the first time after 95
years.

The Armenian church located on Akdamar island in Lake Van in Turkey’s
Van province was opened to worshippers for a single day.

Sunday’s ritual, directed by Archbishop Aram Atesyan of the Armenian
Patriarchate of Turkey, lasted 2 hours.

Hundreds of Christians arrived at Akdamar to attend today’s mass, as
only 50 protocol members could be allowed in the church due to lack of
space inside the historical building. Guests watched the ceremony via
two giant screens built-up in the church’s garden.

High-level officials, diplomats, journalists, Armenian community
members and officials from Germany, France, several other European
countries and USA attended the ceremony.

Delivering a speech at the gathering, Archbishop Aram Atesyan said the
patriarchate attached great importance to the preservation of Akdamar
Church and its transfer to future generations.

“This church, which is a valuable piece of art, is a cultural monument
that belongs to the whole humanity. On this occasion, we would like to
express our thanks to the state and government of Republic of Turkey
for restoring and protecting this building,” Atesyan said.

The island of Akdamar in Lake Van in Eastern Anatolia is famous for
its Armenian church.

The Church of Akdamar was built by Architect Bishop Manuel between
915-921 A.D. under the supervision of King Gagik I.

The name given to the island, Aght’amar, is explained by a well known
legend among local population: A nobleman who fell in love with a
beautiful girl named Tamar visited the island every night to see her.
As he was crossing the lake one stormy night, his boat capsized and
fighting the waves, he drowned uttering the words “Ach Tamar”. Tamar,
awaiting the arrival of her loved one, grieved deeply upon hearing the
news of his death and died soon after. Hence, the island was called
“Ach Tamar” (Aght’amar/Akdamar) ever since.

The church remained as a part of a monastic complex until the
beginning of the 20th century, after which it was abandoned during
World War I due to the fights along the Russian border and it was left
in a bad condition for many years.

Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005-2007 and opened
it as a museum.

Upon a proposal by the Governor’s Office of Van and approval of the
Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, Akdamar Church will host a
religious worship once a year from now on.

19 September 2010, Sunday
THE ANATOLIA NEWS AGENCY VAN

From: A. Papazian