Author: Andres-Papazian

AZERBAIJAN’S ATTEMPT TO BLACKMAIL INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FAILED – ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN

18:58 * 11.08.14

In an interview with Tert.am, Director of the Caucasus Institute,
political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan commented on the
Armenian-Russian presidential meeting in Sochi.

President Ilham Aliyev tried to save his face. Azerbaijan’s attempt
to blackmail the international community failed.

“The results were different for each of the sides. And if we speak
of what the meeting meant for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,
we can say that it helped him get over the difficulty. He thus tried
to save his face after the crushing defeat Azerbaijan’s armed forces
have suffered in recent days.

“Azerbaijan had to get out of the situation, and that meeting proved
a good opportunity. On the other hand, that meeting foiled one more
attempt to use politico-military blackmail against the international
community by Azerbaijan.

“As to the importance of the meeting for Russian President Vladimir
Putin, given the situation Russia has found itself in, we should say
it was important for the Russian president to show his goodwill and
ability to play a positive role in dealing with any conflict out of
context of the serious situation in the south-eastern Ukraine.”

As to Armenia, that meeting proved a platform for it to call for a
settlement of the conflict on the basis of the three fundamental
principles – peoples’ right to self-determination, territorial
integrity and nonuse of force.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2014

Putin meets with Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding a joint meeting with the
leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as concerns mount over the
escalation of fighting over the South Caucasus region
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Putin met Sunday with Armenian President Serge Sarkisian and
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev in Sochi to discuss rising tensions
in the disputed territory, where 19 soldiers were killed in the past
week.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan but the region and some
surrounding territory have been under the control of Armenian soldiers
and local Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended a separatist
war. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes.

From: A. Papazian

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2014

Excuse me, I’m Armenian!

by GÃ`NAL KURÅ?UN

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an remarked on TV last Tuesday: `Let
all Turks in Turkey say they are Turks and all Kurds say they are
Kurds. What is wrong with that? You wouldn’t believe the things they
have said about me. They have said I am Georgian. …They have said
even uglier things — they have called me — excuse me for saying this
— Armenian, but I am Turkish.’

What an intellectual way of complaining about aggression from the
press. There was an expression of loathing on his face when he talked
about being an Armenian.

I remember him saying exactly the same thing, using the same words
about Greeks, a few years ago.

Last week he made statements about the ethnic and religious
backgrounds of Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal
KılıçdaroÄ?lu and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin
DemirtaÅ?. As the leader of the opposition, KılıçdaroÄ?lu is the biggest
supporter of presidential candidate Ekmeleddin Ä°hsanoÄ?lu, and DemirtaÅ?
is another candidate himself. ErdoÄ?an said in recent remarks:
`KılıçdaroÄ?lu, you are an Alevi and I am Sunni. You should state this
openly. DemirtaÃ…?, you are Zaza. Don’t be worried about speaking out
about this.’

If your conscience blinds you, you will be not able to see any truth
except yours. ErdoÄ?an’s only truth is the Muslim population of 99
percent and the voters at his presidential rallies. He is not able to
see the position of the 1 percent of non-Muslims, Armenians, Greeks or
even Muslims not belonging to mainstream Sunni Islam, Alevis and
Zazas. This `You should state this openly’ expression deserves a
better approach, which I will write in the upcoming days using the
judgments of the Nuremberg trials, because there is an odious pattern
we can follow related to this part of history. Might the next step be
wearing a star?

After these shameless statements from Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an, the
Birgün daily used the headline `Excuse me, Fascist,’ and the
Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos used the headline `May Allah excuse him.’

Let’s visualize ourselves as belonging to a minority group living with
a 99 percent majority group. What would you think or feel if the
leader of the society you live in used your minority identity to
persuade the majority to vote for him? Can you stay safely in your
home and disregard what might happen to you or your family just
because of your identity? Will this policy of using identities brings
us peace, as there are lots of things to confront in our past?

`Inciting the population to enmity or hatred and denigration’ is the
title of the famous Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). This
article was used to punish the assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, although it must be used for the opposite. We can see clearly to
whom this article should be applied, but unfortunately we have
suspended our impartial and independent judiciary because of
government policy. All I can do is stand together with all minority
groups, act as one with them and say I’m an Armenian, Greek, Alevi,
Nusayri, Kurd or Zaza. Belonging to the majority sometimes requires
acting as a member of the minority, if you have a conscience.

As I write this article, the people of my country are going to vote
for the next president of the republic. I hope we can wake up tomorrow
to a brighter future, but a voice coming from inside me says hard days
are coming whatever the result. As Nelson Mandela stated, `There is no
easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass
through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we
reach the mountaintop of our desires.’

From: A. Papazian

Arutz Sheva, Israel
Aug 10 2014

Op-Ed: An Entire People on the Brink of Annihilation

An entire religion is at risk of being wiped out, as the threat of
genocide looms in Iraq. The international community must help.

On the 3rd of August, at around 1 am, terrorists from the Islamic
State (IS) started a massive offensive on Kurdish Yazidi villages in
Sinjar (Kurdish: Shengal) in Iraq’s northwestern Ninawa governorate.

The town and surrounding villages were mainly inhabited by Kurdish
Yazidis with an Arab and Assyrian minority. The area was protected by
Kurdish Peshmerga forces but they withdrew from Sinjar to the city of
Zakho in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan in the north. However, as the
Islamic State also had initiated attacks on the town of Zummar, the
Peshmerga were rerouted to Zakho through Rojava, the recently declared
Kurdish autonomous areas in Syria. Those injured were taken to
hospitals by the YPG (Kurdish army in Rojava).

More than a dozen Peshmerga who had refused to leave were martyred
during the fighting, or executed after capture. Aside from a couple of
hundred armed men, the Yazidis in the area were unarmed with no means
to protect themselves. As IS marched towards the town of Sinjar, they
clashed with armed Yazidi civilians, most of whom died in battle. Men,
women, children and the elderly desperately tried to escape, some
250,000 fled to Kurdish controlled areas up north and 60,000 yezidis
(25,000 children) fled to Mount Sinjar. During their advance, IS
terrorists began to destroy holy sanctuaries of Shiites and Yazidis.

YPG immediately mobilized and took over some of the areas previously
under Peshmerga control. They also climbed the mountain to protect
those hiding there, and have since been preparing a safe route to
Rojava for the refugees. Meanwhile the Peshmerga have also started
mobilizing and are preparing a counter attack. On the 5th of August,
some 300 HPG fighters (military wing of the Kurdish Workers Party, or
PKK) also arrived at the Mount Sinjar area to aid in the defense. The
PKK has said it will not allow another Yezidi genocide to happen.
There have been 72 genocide attempts against the Yezidis throughout
history.

After 3 days, more than 70 Yazidi children and around 40 elderly had
died of thirst on the mountains where they sought refuge. Many more
are feared dead now. More than a 1,000 Yazidi men have been executed,
either by decapitation or hanging. Around 500 Yazidi women were taken
to Mosul (under IS control) to either be sold as slaves or to be
forced to marry Jihadis. Thousands more are missing and in many places
locals have reported massacres taking place. Many locals are reporting
cases of forced conversions and rape.

The Yazidi Kurds, who number roughly 500,000 have had a tough history
in the Middle East. During the Armenian genocide some 500,000 Yazidis,
then numbering in the 750,000, were also massacred, expelled from
Turkey to Europe or the Soviet Union.

Today another massacre is taking place and the world remains silent.
As hours go by, more and more children are dying of thirst and hunger.
An entire religion is about to be wiped out, and we beg the
international community to provide humanitarian support & protect this
fragile minority.

From: A. Papazian

The National Interest Online
Aug 10 2014

Russia: The World’s Second-Largest Immigration Haven

Mary Elizabeth Malinkin
August 10, 2014

“cow in search of
opportunity”–President Obama recently stated in an interview with The
Economist, while making a larger point about Russia’s receding role in
the world. While much of his commentary on the overall state of
affairs in Russia was accurate, his comments on a lack of immigrants
in Moscow revealed a blind spot in his view of global-migration
movements–immigrants have been rushing to Moscow for the last twenty
years, and not only to Moscow, but to cities all over Russia.

According to UN Population Division estimates, as of 2013, the
Russian Federation was second only to the United States in the sheer
number of immigrants. This is a fact that continues to elude many
Americans as, justifiably or not, Russia is commonly thought of as a
place to leave rather than a place to which to move. And while it’s
true that Russian citizens are emigrating in increasing numbers in
recent years (a phenomenon that has been compared to the brain drain
of the early 1990s), significantly larger flows of immigrants from the
former Soviet Union have been entering Russia for the last twenty
years.

So, why are they coming? While Russia’s economy has risen and fallen
over the last two decades, an aging population and high mortality
rates have kept the demand for labor steady and even growing in some
cities. Many of the immigrants coming to Russia are able to earn much
higher wages than they could in their home countries. While life for
the average labor migrant in Russia is hard, to say the least, the
conditions they leave behind are almost always much worse. If there
are no jobs in your town in Uzbekistan or Kyrgystan (which are among
the major sending countries according to both UN and Russian official
statistics), trying your luck in Russia is likely your best option.
While experiences differ widely, migrants I interviewed in cities
across Russia ranging from Moscow to Irkutsk often noted the
appreciably better standard of living than in their home countries.

In addition to labor migrants, Russia has also received many refugees
over the last twenty years. In the early 1990s, Armenians and
Azerbaijanis fled to Russia after the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as
well as Meskhetian Turks from Uzbekistan after ethnic violence there.
Citizens of Tajikistan fled civil war in the 1990s, relocating to
Russia as well as to other former Soviet republics. It is difficult to
measure the true volume of refugees who entered during much of the
nineties, but the number of ethnic conflicts in Central Asia certainly
was the source of large flows. More recently, the 2005 Andijan
Massacre in Uzbekistan also brought many refugees to Russia.
Currently, there are many asylum-seekers in Russia from Afghanistan,
Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia, and growing numbers of refugees from
eastern Ukraine.

My emphasis on the presence of labor migrants and refugees in Russia
is by no means intended to downplay the multitude of problems that are
faced by immigrants and native-born citizens in Russia alike. Those
problems are real and the focus of much study and journalism. However,
as many of the immigrants to Russia are labor migrants from
poverty-stricken, neighboring countries or refugees of ethnic violence
and war, the term “opportunity” that President Obama used may not be
appropriate. Is it an “opportunity” if you are coming in order to
survive? This sentiment should ring true in the United States as the
economic gap between our country and those south of our border is
analogous to Russia’s economy compared to those of its neighboring
countries and former Soviet republics.

A stark example of the effects such a gap can have is the child
refugee crisis the United States continues to struggle with week after
week. President Obama’s remarks about immigrants (or a lack of
immigrants) in Russia coincide with the latest immigration debate that
boiled over with the influx of child refugees at the border. It is
ironic that in the process of drawing attention to Russia’s dwindling
relevancy in the world, President Obama indirectly referenced one of
the most complex and troubling issues of his presidency–the inability
thus far to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

President Obama seemed to be trying to demonstrate Russia’s waning
relevance to the United States, keeping it “in perspective,” as he
said, but, it is clear from the crisis in Ukraine and the ripple
effects on all of Europe that Russia is as relevant as ever. Shouldn’t
our goal then be to engage Russia and the broader region more
productively? One way we could do this would be to recognize migration
as an area where our two countries, the United States and
Russia–numbers one and two, respectively, in terms of immigrant
destinations–could work together and learn from each other. Though the
United States has been an immigration destination for much longer than
Russia, we are clearly still far from figuring out what works best.
Both countries continue to struggle with what to do about masses of
undocumented workers, detention centers, public health concerns,
fervent anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as many other issues related
to immigration.

Though it might not be feasible for the highest levels of government
of the United States and Russia to work together on this issue at this
time, at least there is collaboration between the two countries at the
local level. People-to-people diplomacy continues with multiple
U.S.-Russia working groups on various topics, including migration, and
the U.S. government has had the vision to fund such crucial programs.
I feel fortunate to have been involved in two research groups, one
funded by the National Science Foundation and the other by the
U.S.-Russia Social Expertise Exchange, which had both Russian and U.S.
participants, studying migration issues in both countries. Through
such initiatives, it becomes clear just how many similar problems the
United States and Russia face. Keeping these lines of communication
open helps U.S. and Russian citizens alike gain a real understanding
of the on-the-ground situations in their respective countries, no
matter what statements our political leaders make.

From: A. Papazian

Egalité et Réconciliation, France
10 août 2014

Rencontre entre les présidents russe, arménien et azerbaïdjanais à Sotchi

Le président Vladimir Poutine présidera aujourd’hui une rencontre
entre les présidents arménien et azerbaïdjanais, Serge Sarkissian et
Ilham Aliev, afin de désamorcer la crise qui se déroule entre ces deux
pays du Caucase.

La réunion des trois chefs d’État aura lieu à Sotchi et est placé sous
le signe de l’apaisement après que de nombreux accrochages meurtriers
aient eu lieu autour de la région séparatiste azerbaïdjanaise du
Nagorny-Karabakh.

La Russie est le principale fournisseur d’armement de ces deux pays :
elle a livré en 2013 à Erevan 35 chars, 110 autres véhicules blindés,
200 missiles et 50 lance-missiles, Bakou a reçu 438 systèmes
d’artillerie lourde et de 25 hélicoptères d’attaque et a signé de
nouveaux contrats en août 2013 avec Moscou pour un montant de 4
milliards de dollars.

D’après les données de l’Institut international pour les études
stratégiques de Londres, le budget de la défense de l’Azerbaïdjan
l’année dernière était de 3,7 milliards de dollars contre seulement
447 millions pour l’Arménie.

La disproportion des forces entre les deux nations, inquiète l’Arménie
qui voit d’un mauvais oeil, les livraisons d’armes russes à son rival
azerbaïdjanais, ainsi le président arménien Serge Sarkissian a déclaré
le 10 juillet dernier à ce sujet :

>

From: A. Papazian

Sargsyan: Armenia is only one to fulfill UN resolutions’ paragraphs

Monday, August 11, 2014

As was reported earlier, a meeting of Presidents of Armenia, Russia
and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh problem settlement is being
held in Sochi today.

According to RIA Novosti, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said
addressing Vladimir Putin: “This problem requires a solution. It drags
on for a long time. I hope that your personal participation in the
process will give renewed impetus to the negotiating process. As you
said, there is already a format of negotiations, and a legal basis for
resolving the conflict also exists. The UN Security Council passed
four resolutions demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal
of Armenian occupation forces from Azerbaijani territory.
Unfortunately, 20 years have passed that those resolutions still
remain on paper… I think that as our friend, partner and neighbor,
Russia certainly has a special role in the settlement process and we
hope that in the near future we will find a negotiated and peaceful
solution that will be in line with the norms and principles of
international law and also in line with justice”.

For his part, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said: “The Azerbaijani
side constantly refers to four resolutions of the UN, but let me ask
Mr. Aliyev a question: What paragraph of those resolutions has
Azerbaijan fulfilled? Armenia which exercised its influence to stop
hostilities is the only one to have fulfilled paragraphs of those
resolutions. And if we return to the events of the early 1990s, I
think it will be a good thing on the one hand, but on the other hand,
something will drag on… And if we start blaming each other again, I
think the conflict will remain unresolved for a long time”.

“We believe that the conflict can be resolved. It should be resolved
on the basis of compromise, the principles that the OSCE Co-chairs
proposed,” Serzh Sargsyan said.

10.08.2014, 17:59
Aysor.am

From: A. Papazian

REVUE DE PRESSE
Mammadov, l’Azéri Sang et Or

Depuis l’été 2013, le Racing Club de Lens a un nouvel argentier qui ne
passe pas inaperçu. Il s’appelle Hafiz Mammadov, vient d’Azerbaïdjan,
et il est à la tête d’un conglomérat de 41 entreprises. Il a promis
d’utiliser sa fortune pour emmener les Sang et Or vers les sommets. A
n’importe quel prix ?

Le genre à offrir des montres d’une valeur de 16 000 euros à deux
journalistes de Canal Plus. Le genre à glisser des liasses de billets
dans la poussette transportant le dernier né d’un de ses joueurs. Le
genre à doubler le salaire d’un de ses joueurs aussi, >. Il est comme ça Hafiz Mammadov. Il fonctionne à
l’affect, au feeling, arrive toujours à l’improviste.

En juillet 2012, alors que le RC Lens est en Ligue 2, Gervais Martel,
évincé de son poste de président cherche un actionnaire. Dans un
casino de Cannes, il fait la rencontre d’un petit homme d’affaires
azéri à moustache. C’est > assure Gervais
Martel. Il faut dire que des investisseurs comme Mammadov ne courent
pas les rues. Alors, Gervais Martel prend l’argent qu’on lui donne et
préfère ne pas trop se poser de questions. Officiellement, la fortune
de l’entrepreneur de 49 ans provient du commerce des hydrocarbures, du
BTP et des transports. Elle s’élèverait à plus d’un milliard d’euros.

Un proche de l’homme le plus corrompu du monde

L’Azerbaïdjan est un pays classé 139ème sur 183 concernant la
corruption et 156ème sur 179 s’agissant de la liberté de la presse.
Pour la journaliste azéri Khadija Ismayilova, interrogée sur Canal +
le régime politique en place ressemble à >, c’est à
dire une dictature qui fait semblant d’être une démocratie. A la tête
du pays, il y a une famille, un clan : celui du président Ilham
Aliyev, au pouvoir depuis 2003. Il a été élu personnalité la plus
corrompue dans le monde en 2012 par l’ONG Organized Crime and
Corruption Reporting Project. Selon Ismayilova, Aliyev favorise les
chefs d’entreprise dont il est proche en leur octroyant des parts de
marché ou en les faisant bénéficier d’avantages fiscaux. Ce serait le
cas d’Hafiz Mammadov, ami du président, et que Khadija Ismayilova
accuse d’investir dans le football essentiellement pour faire plaisir
à son président. Une réputation qui n’effraie pas Gervais Martel. Lors
des nombreuses interviews qu’il donne à la presse, il se plaît à
employer le terme de > pour décrire l’Azéri.

Un > qui a sauvé le RC Lens d’une rétrogradation
administrative à deux reprises. Lors de son arrivée en 2012 où le club
des > est sauvé de la descente en National. Après une
première année réussie sportivement, Lens remonte en Ligue 1, objectif
initial de Mammadov. Mais en juillet, la Direction Nationale du
Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG) rétrograde le club du Pas-de-Calais au
second échelon professionnel. Une fois encore, celui qui détient une
compagnie de taxi accepte de payer la course. Quelques millions plus
tard, Lens est autorisé à évoluer en Ligue 1. > déclare Gervais Martel à France
Télévisions le 26 juillet, soulagé.

Et maintenant que va faire Hafiz Mammadov ? Continuer à investir ? Pas
si sûr. Le RC Lens n’est pas la seule préoccupation de l’Azéri. En
2004, il avait déjà fait l’acquisition du FC Bakou, le club de la
capitale. Mammadov est aussi l’actionnaire des clubs de l’Atletico
Madrid et du FC Porto. Comme celui du RC Lens, leur maillot arbore un
> aux accents nationalistes.Selon Sports.fr
Hafiz Mammadov pourrait aussi racheter le club de deuxième division
anglaise Sheffield pour une quarantaine de millions d’euros. Pourtant
son conglomérat traverse actuellement une mauvaise passe. En avril
2014, l’agence de notation Fitch expliquait avoir dégradé sa note qui
était jusque là de B+. Elle est maintenant de RD (Restricted Default).
La faute à un défaut de remboursement d’une dette de 19 millions de
dollars.

Aujourd’hui, Hafiz Mammadov se fait un peu plus discret. Il ne clame
plus, comme à ses débuts, que >
ou que > Largement critiqué à son arrivée et toujours regardé avec méfiance,
il n’en reste pas moins que pour le moment les résultats sportifs sont
au rendez-vous.

dimanche 10 août 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

PRESSE TURQUE
Les déplacés de l’Empire

En 1922, à la fin de la guerre gréco-turque et à la veille de
l’avènement de la république de Mustafa Kemal, Grecs et Turcs ont
procédé sans ménagement à une véritable purification ethnique. L’an
dernier, un documentaire grec faisait le point sur le sujet.

I Kathimerini
Spyros Yannaras

La réalisatrice grecque Maria Iliou ne fait pas mystère de ce qu’elle
pense de la question sensible des échanges de population entre la
Grèce et la Turquie après la “Grande Catastrophe” [nom donné en Grèce
à l’expulsion des Grecs d’Ionie], en 1922. “Il ne saurait y avoir de
privilèges lorsque l’on parle de douleur”, déclarait-elle ainsi l’an
dernier à l’occasion de la présentation de son documentaire et de
l’exposition qui l’accompagnait au musée Benaki, à Athènes.

A la fois documentaire et exposition, le projet Expulsion et échange
de populations, Turquie-Grèce 1922-1924, avait été présenté dans le
btiment principal du musée Benaki, à Kolonaki. Il venait compléter le
précédent documentaire de la réalisatrice, qui a remporté un vif
succès, Smyrne : la destruction d’une ville cosmopolite 1900-1922, un
temps projeté dans l’annexe du musée de la rue Pireos.

“Nous avons réalisé le second documentaire dans l’espoir,
quatre-vingt-dix ans après la Grande Catastrophe, de pouvoir raconter
toute l’histoire vue des deux côtés de la mer Egée”, explique-t-elle.

L’historien Alexander Kitroeff, qui a collaboré avec Maria Iliou sur
les deux films, souligne qu’au moment où l’échange de populations a
été décidé à Lausanne, en 1923, la majorité des Grecs avait déjà été
expulsés ou rapatriés en Grèce. Le traité, qui a suivi la première
expulsion des Grecs de Smyrne, du Pont et de Cappadoce, concernait
environ 180 000 Grecs [qui se trouvaient encore en Turquie] et quelque
400 000 musulmans de Cr̬te et de Mac̩doine Рces derniers auraient
pour la plupart préféré rester en Grèce.

En d’autres termes, la tragédie tient à ce que les populations des
deux côtés n’ont jamais été consultées sur le destin qu’on leur
réservait en tant que réfugiés.

L’historien Thanos Veremis rappelle que les Grecs ont dû abandonner
leurs biens, des entreprises prospères et diverses activités qui leur
assuraient un niveau de vie élevé, pour finir dans la pauvreté,
humiliés. Et que côté musulman, l’adversité fut encore pire.

“Les Grecs ont bénéficié d’une assistance élémentaire, alors que les
réfugiés musulmans ont été livrés à leur sort”, résume-t-il.

Le documentaire présente des histoires individuelles de réfugiés grecs
et turcs d’où ressortent d’impressionnantes similarités. L’idée étant
d’oeuvrer pour une réconciliation entre les deux côtés, grec et turc,
en mettant en évidence leurs malheurs communs.

Un accouchement dans la douleur.

Le 30 octobre 1918, vaincu, l’Empire ottoman conclut l’armistice de
Mudros avec les Alliés. C’est le signal du dépeçage. Des troupes
françaises, puis britanniques, italiennes, et grecques, occupent
Constantinople. Paris et Londres se partagent l’immense partie
moyen-orientale de l’empire, Grecs et Italiens se disputant le reste
des dépouilles. Les Grecs, en particulier, rêvent de concrétiser la
Megali Idea, la “Grande Idée”, la création d’une “Grande Grèce”
englobant une partie du littoral anatolien, l’antique Ionie.

Les négociations de paix aboutissent au traité de Sèvres, signé le 10
août 1920. Entre-temps, ce qui reste de l’empire a basculé dans
l’anarchie. Le dernier sultan, Mehmed VI, tente de reprendre la main
face à une partie de son armée, commandée par des officiers
nationalistes sous la férule du général Mustafa Kemal, héros de la
bataille de Gallipoli (1915). Depuis mai 1919, l’armée grecque occupe
Smyrne, où elle consolide ses positions. L’Arménie et la Géorgie, qui
ont proclamé leur indépendance à la suite de la chute de l’empire
tsariste, émettent des revendications sur des territoires turcs.

La signature de Sèvres achève de mettre le feu aux poudres. Les
nationalistes de Kemal dénoncent le traité. Soutenus par les
bolcheviks russes, qui leur fournissent progressivement des armes et
des munitions, ils affrontent à la fois les Grecs, les Français en
Cilicie (au sud de l’Anatolie), les Arméniens, les Géorgiens et les
ultimes défenseurs du sultan.

S’ils parviennent rapidement à repousser les Arméniens et les
Géorgiens, ils se retrouvent en difficultés face aux Grecs, qui
s’enfoncent au coeur de l’Anatolie durant l’automne 1920. Comme les
guerres balkaniques en 1912-1913, les combats donnent lieu à de
terribles atrocités commises par tous les camps.

Les hostilités se poursuivent l’année suivante et tournent peu à peu à
l’avantage des nationalistes de Kemal. Ces derniers battent les
Français, qui abandonnent la Cilicie et se replient sur la Syrie. Ils
réussissent également à endiguer l’avance grecque. En août 1922, ils
lancent une grande contre-offensive. Le front grec s’effondre et les
forces d’Athènes refluent en désordre jusqu’à la mer. Un armistice est
signé en octobre. Au cours de l’offensive kémaliste, la ville de
Smyrne est incendiée. La population grecque d’Asie Mineure fuit (voir
Article d’Ekathimerini sur les mouvements de population) en masse.

En juillet 1923, le traité de Sèvres étant définitivement rejeté, les
négociations avec les nationalistes se concluent par le traité de
Lausanne. Pour l’Empire ottoman, c’est le coup de grce. La république
turque, dirigée par Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (littéralement, le
“Turc-Père” ; il déclenchera une campagne de réformes sans précédent),
est officiellement proclamée le 29 octobre 1923, dans la nouvelle
capitale, Ankara, à l’issue d’un conflit sanglant qui a fait des
dizaines de milliers de morts et au moins deux millions de déplacés.

dimanche 10 août 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

TURQUIE
Des inscriptions arméniennes ajoutées aux panneaux à Artamed dans la
province de Van

Des inscriptions arméniennes ont été ajoutées aux panneaux placés dans
les rues de la ville d’Artamed (Edremit) dans la province de Van en
Turquie selon le site eremenihaber.com.

L’initiative vise à arrêter les perceptions hostiles envers les
Arméniens et de créer de la sympathie envers eux, a déclaré le maire
d’Artamed Sevil Rojbin Cetin, membre du Parti des régions
démocratiques.

“Le peuple kurde a des similitudes historiques et culturelles avec le
peuple arménien. Van et Artamed étaient densément peuplées par les
Arméniens avant 1915. Les Kurdes et les Arméniens ont vécu côte à côte
à Van depuis des siècles. Par conséquent, nous ne permettons à l’État
d’effacer l’histoire de l’Arménie et de détruire la culture
arménienne. Nous avons fait cette étape comme un signe de respect pour
les Arméniens ” a déclaré le maire au site Haber 7.

dimanche 10 août 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

From: A. Papazian