Author: Andres-Papazian

ECHR CONVICTS TURKEY IN HRANT DINK CASE – PM ERDOGAN PROTECTS MIT

BIAnet.org

Aug 24 2010
Turkey

The family of Hrant Dink, killed Turkish-Armenian journalist, won their
case at the European Court of Human Rights. PM Erdogan on the other
hand refused permission for an investigation into alleged negligence
of MIT members related to the murder.

Tolga KORKUT – Burcin BELGE Strasbourg – Ankara – BÄ°A News Center24
August 2010, Tuesday The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
convicted Turkey in the case concerned with the files of Hrant Dink.

The Turkish-Armenian journalist was assassinated on 19 January 2007
in Istanbul.

According to news obtained by bianet, the ECHR chamber decided for
a violation of the right to life because Turkey did not prevent
the murder of the journalist and did not carry out an effective
investigation afterwards. One of the files tried in the scope of this
case was related to the punishment handed down to Dink prior to his
death based on Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Law which bans
“insults” to the Turkish state. The ECHR saw a violation of freedom
of expression in the sentence.

In the defence recently submitted by Turkey to the Strasbourg court,
Dink was compared to a Nazi leader and he was accused of publishing
“hate speeches”. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Justice Minister
Sadullah Ergin had both distanced themselves from the defence.

After the defence made the headlines, President Abdullah Gul admitted
that Dink died because the necessary precautions had not been taken.

Subsequently, he invited Hosrof Dink, brother of the killed journalist,
to a meeting on 20 August.

The court decision is expected to be announced in September after
the reasoning will have been prepared.

If Turkey should appeal, the ECHR Great Chamber will give the final
decision.

Prime Minister protects MIT At the same time, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the request of the Istanbul Chief Prosecution
to launch an investigation into alleged negligence of members of the
National Intelligence Service (MIT) related to the Hrant Dink murder.

As reported by Radikal newspaper, the Prime Ministry replied in writing
to the Prosecution, saying that they would not issue permission for
an investigation about the MIT members, whose lowest rank is that of
a Head of Operations.

“We have no information, no documents” The Prime Ministry had forwarded
the request of the prosecution to the MIT Undersecretary and had asked
for their opinion on the matter. In the response of MIT it was said,
“We have no information and no documents about the Hrant Dink murder”.

President Erdogan had the prosecutor’s request reviewed by the Prime
Ministry Law Undersecretary. While one of the experts apparently
said the investigation should be permitted, another one spoke out
against it.

In a final evaluation, permission was not issued for a probe into
the MIT members.

No permission for Atasagun either Previously, Prime Minister Erdogan
had also declined permission for an investigation requested by the
Ankara Public Chief Prosecution into alleged connections of MIT
Undersecretary Å~^enkal Atasagun to the preparation of the Ergenekon
Scheme. Erdogan said that Atasagun fulfilled his duty and decided
that there was no reason for a further investigation. (TK/BB/VK)

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN GENERAL STAFFS HAVE ‘SIMILAR PLANS’

News.Az
Aug 24 2010
Azerbaijan

Uzeyir Jafarov A Turkish military base in Nakhchivan would free up
Azerbaijani troops for Karabakh, just as the Russian base in Armenia
frees up Armenian troops.

This is the view of Azerbaijani military analyst Uzeyir Jafarov. He was
responding to remarks made to Regnum news agency by Masis Mailyan,
chairman of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic’s public
council on foreign policy and security.

Mailyan said that if war were to resume in Karabakh, “It is clear
that the Russian Defence Ministry’s 102nd military base in Armenia
will not be used for the ‘protection of Karabakh’. However, the
participation of the Russian base and the CSTO (Collective Security
Treaty Organization) in protecting the borders of Armenia will allow
Armenian armed forces to concentrate on the eastern section.”

Commenting on this statement, military expert Uzeyir Jafarov said: “The
plans of the Armenian and Azerbaijan general staff are surprisingly
similar. The possible creation of a Turkish military base in Nakhchivan
will also allow the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry to withdraw a large
military division currently concentrated in the autonomous republic
and transfer those forces to the Karabakh sector.

Nakhchivan’s protection can be entrusted to fraternal Turkey, while
Azerbaijan has neighbourly relations with Iran and Russia.”

Jafarov accused Mailyan of “libelling Azerbaijan” in his remarks that
“Azerbaijan is not ready to recognize the fundamental rights of the
residents of Karabakh including the right to life, while Karabakh
Armenians are not going to reject their independent statehood”.

Azerbaijan has never denied the right of citizens to life while the
proposal of wide autonomy is recognition of the right to have one’s
own life. However, self-determination and unilateral secession from a
state are different things. The two-community population of Karabakh
can determine its fate only within Azerbaijan.”

From: A. Papazian

BAKO SAHAKYAN VISITED PATRIARCHATE OF ARMENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Aysor
Aug 24 2010
Armenia

On 23 August President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan visited
Patriarchate of the Armenian Catholic Church located in Beirut
where he met Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX, supreme
hierarchs of church and representatives of the Armenian community,
central information department of the office of the Artsakh Republic
President informed.

Issues related to Motherland-Diaspora ties as well as domestic and
foreign policy were discussed during the meeting.

Bako Sahakyan called important steady strengthening the ties between
various segments of the Diaspora, underlining that in this process
making more frequent periodical visits is of special significance.

Bako Sahakyan rated high the contribution of the Armenian Catholic
Church in preserving Armenian cultural and educational centers in
the Diaspora, particularly in Lebanon. The interlocutors touched upon
the Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict settlement process too.

Adviser to the President of the Artsakh Republic Armen Isagoulov,
minister of education and science Vladik Khachatryan, head of the
Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic
President David Babayan, permanent representative of the Artsakh
Republic in the Middle East Karo Kebabjyan, as well as ambassador
of the Republic of Armenia in Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan partook at
the meeting.

On the same day the Head of the State held a press-conference for a
number of leading Lebanese mass media. Issues related to socioeconomic
development of the Artsakh Republic, Azerbaijani-Karabagh conflict
settlement process and Artsakh-Diaspora ties were touched upon during
the press-conference.

On 24 August President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan met
representatives of the “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund’s Lebanese branch
headed by its chairman Sargis Armenyan.

Issues related to socioeconomic development of the Artsakh Republic
and realization of various projects in the country were discussed
during the meeting.

The Head of the State rated high the contribution of the fund in the
development of Artsakh noting that he anticipated further activation
of the Lebanese Armenian community in this process.

Adviser to the President of the Artsakh Republic Armen Isagoulov,
minister of education and science Vladik Khachatryan, head of the
Central Information Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic
President David Babayan, permanent representative of the Artsakh
Republic in the Middle East Karo Kebabjyan partook at the meeting.

From: A. Papazian

BOOK: THESE AMAZING ARMENIANS FROM AKHALTSIKHA

Aysor
Aug 24 2010
Armenia

The National Library in Armenian capital will host on August 27 a
presentation of the book “These amazing Armenians from Akhaltsikha”
by Lyuba Matevosian that features history of town of Akhaltsikha,
its churches, theatres, outstanding and famous persons, colleges
and schools.

As a center of Javakheti, Akhaltsikha has played a significant role in
cultural, social, and political spheres of Armenia and Georgia. The
author says that a separate work can be written about every person,
featured in the book.

The book’s historical, cultural and informational significance and
importance comes more amid the today’s policy of Georgian authorities
aimed at laying hands on Armenian churches and cultural monuments,
which are located in the territory of modern Georgia.

From: A. Papazian

PEOPLE’S ARTIST OF ARMENIA VLADIMIR MSRIAN DIES AT 72

Aysor
Aug 24 2010
Armenia

People’s Artist of Armenia Vladimir Msrian, 72, died today, on August
24, in a hospital in Yerevan at nearly 7:30 am. He suffered from
blood cancer.

Vladimir Msrian was born on March 12 1938 in Ordjonikidze, modern
Bladikavkaz; a Yerevan Art and Theatre Institute graduate (1958-1962,
Gulakian’s course), he was a People’s Artist of Armenia (Soviet
Armenia); in 1963-64 he worked at the Theatre for Young Audiences; in
1964-66 he performed in the Yerevan Russian Theatre aft Stanislavsky
and since 1966 – in the Yerevan Drama Theatre.

From: A. Papazian

IS WALMART WEALTH FUNDING RADICAL ISLAMIC SCHOOLS IN THE U.S.A.?

Family Security Matters

Aug 24 2010

The Walton Family Foundation is shelling out millions (pdf) to fund
charter schools with alleged ties to militant Islam throughout the
country.

At the schools, which have been “inspired” by Imam Fethullah Gulen,
students are immersed in Turkish customs, rituals, and language. They
take part in so-called “Turkish Olympics” and are encouraged to make
annual pilgrimages to Istanbul and Ankara. The schools allegedly
foster the dream of the restoration of the Ottoman Empire and dismiss
all accounts of the Armenian Christian holocaust as fanciful myths.

According to Stephen Schwartz of the Center for Islamic Pluralism,
the students at the Gulen schools are also steeped in the tenets of
militant Islam so they may be of serve a role in the re-establishment
of the Ottoman Empire and the extension of shariah (Islamic law)
throughout Europe and the United States.

Many of the teachers at these schools are Turkish émigrés with
questionable credentials. Some possess H-1B non immigrant visas which
should only be granted to individuals who possess “highly specialized
knowledge in a field of human endeavor.” The female faculty members
appear in their classrooms wearing hijabs and traditional Islamic
attire.

Rachel Sharon-Krespin writes: “His (Gulen’s) followers target youth in
the eighth through twelfth grades, mentor and indoctrinate them in the
ıÅ~_ıkevi, educate them in the Fethullah schools, and prepare them
for future careers in legal, political, and educational professions
in order to create the ruling classes of the future Islamist,
Turkish state.”

Even more telling is a comment from Nurettin Veren, Gulen’s right
hand man for 35 years, who says: “These schools are like shop windows.

Recruitment and Islamization are carried out through night classes.

The Walton Family derived its vast fortune – – estimated at $89.5 –
– from Sam and Bud Walton, the founders of Wal-Mart.

In California, the Walton Family Foundation has donated approximately
$1 million to the Magnolia Science Academies that have been “inspired”
by Gulen and his movement.

Similarly, the Waltons have provided sizeable checks to similar Gulen
charter schools, including the Indiana Math and Science Foundation
which received $230,000 in 2007.

During the same year, the Waltons gave the same amount to Noble Academy
Charter School in Ohio, the Abramson Science and Technology Charter
School in Louisiana, and the Noble Academy Charter School in Ohio –
– all of which uphold Gulen’s teachings and ideology.

Another Gulen-inspired institution – – the Lisa Academy Charter School
in Arkansas – – was granted $154,244.

The above figures are the tip of the iceberg since the allocations
of the Walton Family Foundation to the Gulen schools in 2009 have
not been disclosed.

The Gulen-inspired schools have also received more than $10 million
from Bill Gates of Microsoft fame, and nearly $1 billion in federal
and state funds.

Fethullah Gulen has been labeled “the most dangerous Islamist on
planet earth.”

In 1998, he fled his native Turkey to escape arrest on government
charges that he sought to overthrow the secular Ataturk government.

With his vast fortune – – estimated by the U.S. Justice Department
to exceed $25 billion – – Gulen found refuge in Pennsylvania, where
he established a mountain fortress on 45 acres of land in the rural
community of Saylorsburg.

>From Saylorsburg, Gulen worked to transform the secular government of
Turkey into an Islamic Republic under the Justice and Democratic Party
(Adalet ve Kalkinma, AKP)- – a party under the Gulen’s control.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Paul L. Williams, Ph.D.,
is the author of The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the
Western World, The Al Qaeda Connection, and other best-selling books.

He is a frequent guest on such national news networks as ABC
News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR. Visit his website at

From: A. Papazian

NATO MAY CANCEL EXERCISES IN ARMENIA, IF TURKEY DOESN’T ALLOW PASSAGE OF ITS CONVOY

Tert.am
25.08.10

If Turkey does not give its consent to the NATO convoy to pass through
its borders to the territory of Armenia, the NATO exercises scheduled
for September 11-17 can be cancelled, said the head of the Turkish
Foreign Ministry’s department for Eurasia Mehmet Fatih Ceylan.

“In theory, Turkey cannot to give permission and not to open the
border to pass the necessary equipment. But it will be exercises for
the emergency situations ministry to train for the fight against the
natural disaster that will not take a military character,” Turkish
diplomat told Azerbaijani news agency Trend.

According to Ceylan, if NATOcarries military-technical equipment
through Turkey’s territory for exercises in Armenia, then Ankara
would not give its consent. Given the exercises will take place
within the emergency situations, Turkey will likely open its border
with Armenia only for the transportation of necessary equipment for
the NATO exercises,” said Ceylan.

“The scenario is that earthquake occurs in Armenia and NATO forces
are sent there to provide necessary assistance,” Ceylan said, adding
that for this kind of exercise, Turkey, as a member of the alliance,
must allow a NATO convoy to pass through its borders. However, this
step does not mean that Turkey will officially open its border with
Armenia, the diplomat said.

Turkey closed down the border with Armenia in solidarity with
Azerbaijan in the 1993 Karabakh war.

From: A. Papazian

FRANGUS FRANGOULIS AND HIS DELEGATION VISIT TSITSERNAKABERD MEMORIAL

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 24, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS: The head of the Chief Headquarter of
the Land Troops of Greece, General-Lieutenant Frangus Frangoulis,
who has paid a two-day working visit to Armenia, visited today
Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay tribute and a put a wreath at the
memorial dedicated to the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide
committed in the Ottoman Turkey. Afterwards the delegation visited
the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute where accompanied by deputy
director Suren Manukyan got acquainted with the presented samples.

Frangus Frangoulis also put a note in the Commemoration Book.

At the end of the visit to Tsitsernakaberd he watered the tree planted
by the President of Cyprus Carlos Papulias in the Memory Alley.

From: A. Papazian

12% GROWTH REGISTERED THIS YEAR IN THE SPHERE OF TOURISM IN ARMENIA COMPARED WITH 2009

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 24, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS: Twelve percent growth has been
registered this year in the sphere of tourism in Armenia compared
with the officially registered number of the visitors of 2009 – 600
thousand. Chairman of the Armenian National Competitiveness Foundation
Bekor Papazyan told today at a news conference that the ingoing tourism
is growing year by year, by 10 % annually; 9% growth was registered in
2009 compared with 2008. Deputy Chairman of the Armenian Hotels’ Union
Hakob Hakobyan disputed these numbers, noting that the annual data
of the hotels are incomparatively low and other indexes are indicated.

Chairman of the Incoming Tour Operators Robert Minasyan distinguished
between the conceptions of tourist and visitor. He conditioned Mr.

Hakobyan’s disagreement by the circumstance that the visitors who
are the prevailing majority of Armenia, often dwell in the houses of
acquaintance-relatives, make use of home services. “In those cases
the state registers no profit,” Mr. Minasyan noted.

All the speakers unanimously agreed that the profitable and
well-arranged tourism is not very developed in Armenia; Armenian
hotels are overloaded by 25-30 % annually.

For promoting tourism in Armenia, according to Mr. Papazyan,
participation in relevant 4-5 big international exhibitions is intended
in 2011, where the Armenian services will be presented. A consultation
with the Armenian government on adding the budget of tourism promotion
is intended as well.

From: A. Papazian

MEMORANDUM SIGNED BETWEEN RA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY AND GLENDALE’S ‘MASHTOTS’ COLLEGE

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 24, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS: Martin Sargsyan, chairman of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia, and
Karpis Ter-Yeghiayan, rector of Glendale-based ‘Mashtots’ College,
signed today a memorandum of cooperation at the RA Chamber of Commerce.

The memorandum is directed to increasing of exportation volumes of
the Armenian products, improving the business environment, promoting
rise in Armenia’s economic index, presenting the Armenian industry
to businessmen via mutual visits.

According to Martin Sargsyan, chairman of RA Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, preliminary studies of the US market will be required for
making clear the list of goods, importation of which will generate
more profits and will cause interest among Diaspora-Armenians and
Americans. He added that serious studies of price policy will be
required for drafting necessary strategic projects.

‘This is a patriotic mission for me and I am ready to devote myself
to the success of the deal with 110%,’ Karpis Ter-Yeghiayan said. He
added that the list of goods will be made clear in the near future.

The memorandum intends cooperation in the sphere of organizing and
holding of conferences, business forums, business visits, expositions
and commercial presentations in Armenia and Los Angeles, US. It also
intends provision of a corresponding territory in Glendale for holding
a permanent expo-fair of Armenian goods. Within the framework of the
memorandum it is also intended to draft and implement joint projects,
directed to promotion of exportation, exchange business information,
provide free of charge economic-legal consultation services.

The memorandum has no time limit.

From: A. Papazian