Author: Andres-Papazian

LE PASSE ARMENIEN DE LA PLACE TAKSIM

28 juin 2013

Envoye par EMILY GREENHOUSE

La Place Taksim, comme la place Tahrir et le Parc Zuccotti avant
elle, est un endroit d’une ville qui aurait pu n’etre qu’un point de
rendez-vous pour des amis, ou pour lire un livre sous un arbre. Mais
le Premier Ministre, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a decide qu’il aimerait
rendre a ce lieu l’architecture des casernements qui s’y trouvaient
a l’epoque ottomane, pour y installer un centre commercial et une
mosquee. À la fin du mois de mai, plusieurs douzaines d’ecologistes
avaient commence a manifester contre les projets d’Erdogan a Gezi Park,
l’île des arbres qui s’y trouve ; ils ont ete attaques par la police
turque avec des gaz lacrymogènes et des canons a eau. Bientôt, comme
l’a ecrit Selif Batuman, ” quinze pour cent seulement d’entre eux
protestaient contre la destruction des arbres, tandis que quarante
neuf pour cent protestaient contre la violence de la police envers
ces individus qui osaient protester contre la destruction des arbres “.

Depuis lors, environ huit mille manifestants ont ete blesses. A
present, la manifestation a evolue en une mise en cause du programme
religieux d’Erdogan et a son comportement autoritaire. Aujourd’hui,
” Place Taksim ” n’est plus synonyme d’agitation ou de lieu mais une
expression qui signifie debat d’idees, mouvement, champ de bataille.

Considerant le symbolisme associe a present a ce site, empreint
de sideration et desagreable, c’est pour un peuple entier un fait
historique, la Place Tassim est desormais une representation de la
demolition du passe. Dans l’une des allees du Parc Gezi, les militants
ont place une tombe improvisee portant l’inscription ” Cimetière
Armenien Saint Jacques, 1551-1939 : vous nous avez depossedes de
notre cimetière, vous ne nous prendrez pas notre parc ! ”

C’est un fait ignore de la plupart des courageux manifestants
d’Istanbul : il y a des siècles, des membres de la communaute
armenienne d’Istanbul etaient enterres a l’endroit où ils se trouvent.

Au cours du seizième siècle, sous le règne de Soliman le Magnifique,
sultan de l’Empire ottoman, un groupe de conspirateurs aurait approche
Manuk Karaseferyan, un cuisinier de la cour imperiale, afin qu’il mette
du poison dans la nourriture du sultan. Mais Karaseferyan ayant mis
Soliman au courant du complot, ce dernier lui offrit une faveur pour le
remercier. Karaseferyan aurait alors demande d’affecter un emplacement
pour y enterrer ses compatriotes Armeniens. Le Cimetière Armenien de
Pangali serait alors devenu le plus grand cimetière non-musulman de
toute l’histoire d’Istanbul, bien que dans les annees mil huit cent
soixante, après une epidemie de cholera, les enterrements d’Armeniens
furent deplaces vers le quartier Sisli.

Au debut de la Première Guerre Mondiale, il y avait dans l’Empire
ottoman deux millions d’Armeniens ; en 1922, il n’en restait plus que
cent mille – un massacre d’un million et demi de personnes que les
historiens appellent genocide ( le mot ” genocide ” avait ete cree
par Raphaël Lemkin, un juriste polonais, au cours de ses travaux
sur les massacres d’Armeniens). L’un des volets de la campagne
contre les Armeniens consistait en la confiscation de leurs terres ;
le cimetière qui en faisait partie a ete rase au cours des annees
1930. À sa place se trouvent aujourd’hui, dans le Gezi Park, des
hôtels, des immeubles d’habitation et un centre de la Radiotelevision
turque. On peut cependant encore y voir des pierres tombales : elles
ont ete recyclees comme marches d’escalier (ce qui n’est pas le seul
reemploi de pierres tombales : Tablet a publie cet ete une serie de
photos de pierres tombales juives integrees a des ateliers d’artistes,
a des terrains de basket-ball, a des bacs a sable du jardin d’enfants
du quartier Pologne).

Après presque cent ans, le gouvernement turc n’a toujours pas reconnu
le Genocide armenien. Il ne reste que peu d’Armeniens en Turquie. Le
Washington Post a recemment publie un article sur une femme âgee nomme
Asiya – la dernière Armenienne de Chunkush, qui en a compte dix mille.

En 1919, un monument au Genocide armenien avait ete erige au cimetière
Pangalti, mais il a ete detruit en 1922, des annees avant que Gezi Park
ne soit amenage. Chaque annee, un groupe turc des droits de l’homme
appele DurDe organise une commemoration silencieuse le 24 avril, le
jour de 1915 où plusieurs centaines d’intellectuels armeniens furent
regroupes pour etre executes. Il projette la reinstallation du monument
a Gezi Park, mais la pression des nationalistes l’en a empeche jusqu’a
present. Cengiz Algan, un membre de DurDe, a declare au journal Le
Monde ” tous les partis politiques s’entre-tuent, mais lorsqu’il est
question des Armeniens, ils trouvent toujours un consensus “.

Ceux qui protestent contre Erdogan en Turquie, dans une demarche
compliquee, souhaitent faire usage de leur liberte et se souvenir de
leur passe, sans gaz lacrymogènes, sans effusion de sang, negationnisme
ou souffrance. Ils ne sont pas seuls.

Image : extraite du ” Black’s Guide : a Guide to Constantinople ”
de Demetrius Coufopoulos.

Traduction Gilbert Beguian

mardi 2 juillet 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

LA SCANDALEUSE PAGE PROMO DE MEHRIBAN ALIYEVA

Cher Figaro Magazine, Madame, Monsieur C~Rest avec une grande
stupéfaction que la 33ème page du figaro magazine du week end du
29 juin 2013 présente une publi-communication faisant l~Réloge de
Mehriban Aliyeva, exposée comme gardienne de la culture, de l~Rart, de
la connaissance et de l~Réducation, dont elle se fait l~Rambassadrice
à travers le monde.

La lecture de ces lignes peut paraître touchante, tout comme ces
opérations de mécénat par la sauvegarde de la culture et l~Raide aux
plus démunis. Cette opération de séduction, dont la France est un des
principaux soutiens, cache la réalité de l~REtat Azerbaïdjanais qui
utilise la bienfaisance comme une façade dangereuse. L~Reffarement
atteint son comble, comme lorsque les lignes citent Candide de
Voltaire avec le fameux « Il faut cultiver notre jardin », illustrant
le travail acharné de Mehriban Aliyeva dans la promotion de la culture
de son pays tout autour du monde.

Quand il s~Ragit de valeurs humaines et de tolérance, on oublie
de relater l~Raffaire Safarov, condamné en 2006 pour le meurtre du
lieutenant arménien Gurgen Margaryan à coup de hache lors d~Run stage
de l~ROtan, puis libéré le 31 août dernier par la Hongrie alors qu~Ril
purgeait une peine de prison à vie. Depuis son retour en Azerbaïdjan,
Ramil Safarov a été promu major, a reçu un appartement ainsi que huit
ans de paie en guise d~Rarriérés, considérant l~Racte abominable
comme héroïque, grâce à la véhémence du président Ilham Aliyev. Le
positionnement du pays par rapport à son voisin l~RArménie, avec qui
s~Rengage une guerre larvée dans le conflit du Haut Karabagh depuis
20 ans, prend tout son sens lorsqu~Ril annonce en novembre 2012 :
« Notre principal ennemi est le lobby arménien … L~RArménie est un
pays qui n~Ra pas de valeur. Il est en fait une colonie, un territoire
artificiellement créé sur les terres azerbaïdjanaises ». Il semble
que ces valeurs humaines et de tolérance dont Mme Aliyev veut être
la porte parole s~Rarrête à certaines frontières alors qu~Relles ne
devraient en avoir aucune. Pauvre Voltaire.

Cette attitude honteuse envers les arméniens et l~RArménie, la
dynastie Aliyev l~Rentretien également avec son propre peuple,
qui subit une répression continue, des arrestations et détentions
arbitraires. Reporter Sans Frontière en dénombre de nombreuses et
dénonce l~Rasphyxie de la presse d~Ropposition. Classé 162/179 en
termes de liberté d~Rexpression, cette oligarchie balaye d~Run revers
de main toute opinion alternative, prônant la violence d~Run régime
coercitif où la liberté n~Ra pas de valeur : culte de la personnalité,
illimitation du nombre de mandats, fraudes électorale massive, absence
de députés d~Ropposition,… Par ailleurs, cette promotion culturelle
et artistique perd tout son sens lorsqu~Rau début des années 2000,
l~RAzerbaïdjan rase le plus grand cimetière de khatchkar de l~RArménie
historique, datant du XVIème siècle, à Djoulfa, dans la province
du Nakhtichevan, malgré les protestations de l~RUNESCO qui a tout
de même décerné le titre « d~Rambassadeur de bonne volonté » dans
la foulée à notre héroïne. Au lieu de ce patrimoine culturel siège
dorénavant une base militaire opérationnelle. Cette position rejoint
une politique de négationnisme actif et d~Rextinction des témoins de
la présence arménienne sur ses terres ancestrales. Après le génocide
des arméniens de 1915, la poursuite de l~Rannihilation de la mémoire
et de la culture est systématique et d~Rune continuité inébranlée :
le clan Aliyev en a fait son crédo.

L~Répouse d~Run des plus grands dictateurs de ce monde, considéré
comme le plus grand prédateur de la presse par RSF en 2013 tente une
opération de séduction malsaine et nauséabonde dont nombre d~Rétats
occidentaux se sont fourvoyés. Grâce aux revenus de l~Rindustrie
pétrolière, l~RAzerbaïdjan mène depuis une dizaine d~Rannées une vaste
campagne dont le but est simplement de détourner la réalité de la
violente coercition qui sévit dans ce pays, relatée ici par quelques
exemples. Profondément navrant que Le Figaro Magazine ait tendu la
main à cette requête. Cette page n~Rest pas une simple publicité, elle
s~Rinsert parfaitement dans les lignes de l~Rhebdomadaire rendant le
contenu encore plus doux, encore plus crédible, déportant la dimension
propagandiste et falsificatrice de ce pays soi disant en accord avec
son temps et profondément humaniste. Mehriban Aliyeva a peut être
lu Voltaire, elle oublie évidement que le philosophe était le plus
grand défenseur de l~Rêtre humain face aux dérives fanatiques et aux
coercitions de l~Rexpression, mais cela, la famille Aliyev n~Ren a
que faire…

Adrien KAZANDJIAN

JPEG – 744.1 ko mardi 2 juillet 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

LE PRESIDENT SARKISSIAN DEFEND LE GOUVERNEMENT DANS L’AFFAIRE DE LA COUR DES COMPTES

Le president Serge Sarkissian a ouvertement pris parti pour le
gouvernement armenien dans son conflit avec un organe de surveillance
parlementaire qui a denonce les abus generalises dans l’administration
des marches du public.

Sarkissian a fustige Ishkhan Zakarian, chef de la Cour des comptes,
lors d’une reunion de hauts fonctionnaires le week-end dernier qui ont
discute de la ligne a suivre par rapport aux medias armeniens. Dans
une allocution diffusee par toutes les grandes chaînes de television,
il semblait particulièrement irrite par les denonciations de Zakarian
selon lesquelles jusqu’a 70 pour cent des depenses budgetaires en
Armenie ont ete mal utilisees ou gaspillees par divers organismes
gouvernementaux.

Ishkhan Zakarian, qui a lui-meme dû faire face a des allegations de
corruption de certains hommes politiques et medias d’opposition,
s’etait livre a ces accusations en presentant le rapport annuel
de la Cour des comptes au Parlement le mois dernier. Le rapport
affirme que les contrats publics sont regulièrement conclus avec des
entreprises privees via des offres fictives. Mais il n’a presente de
pretendues preuves que sur quelques millions de dollars de prejudice
financier cause a l’Etat. Le Premier ministre Tigran Sarkissian,
cible principale du rapport, a accuse de son côte Zakarian d’exagerer
les abus financiers possibles a des fins politiques.

” Malheureusement, dans de nombreux cas, la Cour des comptes s’est
transformee en un organisme d’inspection “, a declare un Sarkissian
visiblement agace a la reunion a laquelle ont egalement assiste les
principaux legislateurs du pays. Or son rôle se limite a un audit
financier, a-t-il ajoute.

“Vous devez simplement realiser que personne n’attend de vous,
l’expression de votre opinion,” a-t-il poursuivi, se tournant
vers Zakarian. ” Personne ne se soucie de ce que vous pensez du
bureau du procureur ou de tout autre organisme. Si vous etes decu ou
enthousiaste, c’est votre affaire personnelle. Vous pouvez en parler
a la maison “.

Sarkissian a poursuivi en critiquant le Procureur general Aghvan
Hovsepian pour ne pas avoir ouvert une enquete sur les conclusions
du rapport de la Cour des comptes immediatement après qu’il a ete
rendu public. Le bureau de Hovsepian a attendu de recevoir une plainte
officielle du president du parlement Hovik Abrahamian avant de lancer
une enquete criminelle la semaine dernière.

Le president armenien avait lui-meme accuse le gouvernement en
septembre dernier de tolerer les pratiques de corruption dans
l’administration des marches de l’Etat. Ces declarations avaient ete
suivies par une serie d’enquetes sur la corruption et l’arrestation
d’anciens et actuels responsables gouvernementaux.

Le chef de l’Etat a charge samedi Tigran Sarkissian de s’assurer
que le gouvernement se penche sur les allegations contenues dans le
rapport de la Cour des comptes “une par une “. “Je vous demande le
faire rapidement et en toute transparence”, a-t-il dit.

Le Premier ministre avait deja donne de telles instructions aux
membres de son cabinet la semaine precedente.

mardi 2 juillet 2013, Ara ©armenews.com

From: A. Papazian

BOOK ON CHINA FROM ARMENIAN PERSPECTIVE PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

Xinhua, China
July 1 2013

YEREVAN, Armenia, July 1 (Xinhua) — A book titled “China in the eyes
of Armenians” was published in Armenia on Monday, which provides a
better perception of China for the Armenian readers.

The book tells about the insights and personal experiences of a number
of Armenian public figures on China.

During the ceremonial introduction of the book, Lu Guchan, former
Chinese Ambassador to Russia and Executive Director of Chinese Fund
for International Research, said it was a unique window through which
recognition of China had been made easier.

“After Central Asia comes the Caucasus, so we might as well say that
this region is a close neighboring area for us. Armenia has a long
history of interactions with China and we have many things in common,”
Lu said in an interview with Xinhua.

“The strengthening of relations with Armenia will not only facilitate
the stability and development of the region but it is of rather big
significance to China,” he added.

Deputy Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly Hermine Naghdalyan
hailed the book as a significant contribution to the development of
Armenia-China relations.

The book was published on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and China.

Editor: Fang Yang

From: A. Papazian

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: TURKEY AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

OpEdNews
July 1 2013

By Henry Pelifian

Scenes like this were common all over the Armenian provinces, in
the spring and summer months of 1915. Death in its several forms –
massacre, starvation, exhaustion – destroyed the larger part of the
refugees. The Turkish policy was that of extermination under the
guise of deportation.

T he Genocide Education Project on their website shows this photo
and caption from Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s Story.

There has been an unreal and even false assumption regarding Turkey
among many Americans and even the U.S. government as it strides across
the globe spending billions tinkering with this or that alliance with
foreign aid and military bases. In this pragmatic view Turkey is a
staunch ally with a history of Islamic tolerance. For many decades
Turkey has received hundreds of millions of dollars annually for
allowing U.S. bases on its soil. The Bush-43 administration forgave
Turkey’s $5-billion-dollar debt to the United States.

In fact, Turkey negotiated the $5-billion-dollar debt forgiveness
in exchange for the right of American aircraft based in Turkey
to attack Iraq. Foreign aid is not considered bribery; it is just
government-to-government assistance. But the number of Swiss bank
accounts that have been created from American foreign-aid money litters
the globe from Asia to Africa. According to the Oxford Atlas of World
History the United States government since World War II has been
“supporting manifestly corrupt and oppressive right-wing regimes
considered friendly to the USA.” It is missing the point on Turkey
to believe this is about foreign aid; rather it is missing the point
on genocide.

There are Americans today, even Christian religious leaders, who
are extolling Turkey claiming one may freely choose Islam, but
the history of Turkey clashes with this notion of tolerance. Early
in the Twentieth Century the Turkish government embarked upon the
first genocide of that century. Adolf Hitler remarked to his aids
in the 1930s to support his own pogrom against the Jews: “Who now
remembers the Armenians?” Who does remember the Armenians? Politics
of the moment are often more important than historical truth and its
important impact on the future of the world.

Nearly two million Christian Armenians in Turkey were killed in a
genocide that hinged on the Armenians converting to Islam. A devoutly
Christian people for centuries, the Armenians were determined to face
the Turkish onslaught rather than deny their faith. The Armenians
were a successful people, active in commerce, owning businesses and
property in Turkey, as well as being artisans and talented craftsmen.

That was all swept away by the Turkish government’s brutal attempt
to exterminate all Armenians.

Although the Armenian genocide is fully documented, the Turkish
government to this day refuses to acknowledge its treachery. The
Turkish government at the outset of the genocide began by drafting
unknowing Armenian males into the army and murdering them. Once the
Armenian towns and villages were devoid of the young men, the Turks
committed atrocities on the largest scale by uprooting Armenian women,
children, and elderly from their ancestral homes in Turkey and marching
them into the desert.

The memory of the genocide of Armenians in Turkey is alive today
among Armenians whose relatives survived and fled Turkey. My father
as a boy was taken with the elderly, women, and children to a barren
and deserted area to makeshift prison camps. Along the way the
Armenians were raped and mutilated. Those who were dying of thirst
and malnutrition were left to die in the desert. The Turks were slowly
starving the Armenians to death in the concentration camps.

My father’s job when he was a boy was to bury the dead in a ditch
near the encampment, which he did for several years. His grandmother
told him one day that when she died he was to bury her in the ditch
and be strong and escape. He did just that. He roamed Turkey as a boy
disguising himself as a Turk. At the end of World War I the British
occupied Turkey, permitting the Red Cross to enter the country. With
the help of the Red Cross my father made it to the greatest nation
in the world, as he often told me.

Armenians throughout America have similar memories of their families
dying at the hands of the Turks. All this talk of a secular Turkey
attempting to become part of the larger world rings very hollow
and untrue. How can a country move forward with the first genocide
of the Twentieth Century as part of its history? It cannot and all
those who sing the song of a modern Turkey sing a song laced with
the most barbaric form of human depravity by ignoring the genocide
of an entire people — the ultimate human crime.

Until Turkey recognizes the Armenian genocide it will always be
a rogue nation for all people who know that truth and honesty is
humanity’s surest guide to a better future. Would Germany be a rogue
nation today if it had not admitted to the holocaust? Dismissing the
slaughter and carnage of nearly two million Armenians by the Turkish
government is a legacy that cannot be forgotten.

Any government or people who promote modern Turkey without recognizing
and admitting the genocide of Armenians are embarking upon a historic
lie, a lie that encompasses Turkey every day and every year. It is
time for the U.S. government to probe its relationship with Turkey
not for temporary advantage, but for lasting impact for all people
who desire that genocide be condemned and wherever possible arrest
those responsible for committing atrocities. There is no statute of
limitations for the crime of genocide.

Armenians ask only that the truth be told, revealed, and acknowledged.

Without truth humanity never quite makes a full step forward, but
hovers in the shadow of lies hidden in endless denials.

Henry Pelifian has written many columns and articles on government and
current events. He has published a play THOREAU based on the life,
works and words of Henry David Thoreau, a war novella and short
stories based on his years overseas called (more…)

From: A. Papazian

CONGRATULATIONS TO PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA SERZH SARGSYAN ON HIS BIRTHDAY

The office of the President of Russia
June 30 2013

The following information was released by the office of the President
of Russia:

Vladimir Putin congratulated President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on
his birthday.

In his telegram, Mr Putin highly assessed Mr Sargsyan’s efforts to
strengthen the relations that Russia and Armenia have built on the
basis of longstanding friendship and mutual respect between their
peoples. The Russian President noted too, that his latest meetings
with Mr Sargsyan have expanded the bilateral political dialogue and
boosted constructive cooperation in trade, economic and other areas
and work as partners on the international stage, in particular in the
CIS and the CSTO, in the interests of both peoples and of security
and stability in the Trans-Caucasus region.

From: A. Papazian

AMBASSADOR: IRAN DID NOT SUFFER ANY LOSS FROM ARMENIA

Tuesday,
July 02

“Armenia is Iran’s neighbor. We have economic links with that country.

Armenia also has close relations with the United States, and several
U.S. states have even recognized the independence of Nagorno Karabakh.

Iran has not so far suffered any loss from Armenia, and we will not
break off our relations with Armenia,” Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan
Mohsen Pak Ayeen said in an interview with Azadinforum.az.

It should be mentioned that earlier, in response to an observation of
Azerbaijani reporters that Armenia is becoming stronger due to the
friendly relationship and economic ties between Iran and Armenia,
which evokes a negative reaction of the Azerbaijani people, the
Iranian ambassador said: “If you think that in case of a rupture of
relations between Iran and Armenia, the economic situation in Armenia
will worsen and this circumstance will contribute to a resolution of
the Karabakh conflict, then you are mistaken”.

TODAY, 16:43

Aysor.am

From: A. Papazian

AMBASSADOR OF NIGERIA PRESENTED HIS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN

02-07-2013 13:56:33 | Armenia | Politics

Today, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alhadzi
Tukur Mani (residence in Tehran) presented his credentials to Serzh
Sargsyan. The President congratulated the Ambassador on his appointment
and wished success in his diplomatic mission in our country. Serzh
Sargsyan noted that Armenia values Nigeria’s active work within the
African Union and the country’s contribution to the preservation of
global peace and stability.

The parties stressed the necessity of forming a legal field for the
development of cooperation in the areas of mutual interest.

At the meeting, along with the bilateral issues, stressed was
importance of the two countries’ cooperation in the framework of
international organizations.

News from Armenia and Diaspora – Noyan Tapan – See more at:

From: A. Papazian

Maxim Shevchenko: Russia still has no comprehensive policy in the Caucasus
ArmInfo’s interview with Maxim Shevchenko, Russian journalist,
editor-in-chief of kavpolit.com

by Ashot Safaryan

Saturday, June 29, 18:21

Mr. Shevchenko, the weapon deal between Moscow and Baku has had a wide
public response. What made Russia sell weapons to a country – enemy of
its strategic ally Armenia?

Russia is connected with Armenia via CSTO, therefore contractual
relationships between the two countries are deeper than the relations
of Moscow and Baku. Armenia and Russia are closely cooperating in many
key fields. However, Azerbaijan is not an enemy for Russia either. In
Russia we are very upset over the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. As
regards the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan, I don’t know what is the
logic of the Russian government or the president. I think, however,
that balance of forces in the region is the guarantee of peace and
stability. If disarmament is impossible, balance of force is the
guarantee against military actions and use of force. There is nothing
anti-Armenian in the sale of the Russian weapons to Azerbaijan. The
contractual relations of Armenia and Russia make Moscow protect
Armenia in case of a threat.

Supply of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan leads to a new wave of
anti-Russian sentiments in the Armenian public. Isn’t Russia concerned
over that fact?

Public sentiments in Armenia and Russia have no impact on the
decisions of politicians. Russia cannot take either pro-Armenia or
pro-Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh conflict. Moscow will
observe certain balance in it. We will not allow military

Russian politicians say that Russia supplies weapons to Azerbaijan not
to lose its weapons sale market. Otherwise, USA, Turkey or Israel will
start supplying weapons to Azerbaijan. Do you share these views?

Russia does not want to lose Azerbaijan as a sales market for its
military production or yield it to the USA, for instance. That is not
the point, however. If the USA decides to supply weapons, it will do
that irrespective of Russia. We have already witnessed how the USA
‘pushes through’ its decisions at any cost. I think that in the light
of rather serious developments in the regions, threats of war around
Iran, unfortunately, the balance of forces is the guarantee against
the use of force by the conflicting parties.

What do you think of further relations of Iran and Azerbaijan under
new President of Iran Hassan Rouhani? Yet during the presidential
race, Rouhani called Baku a threat to the security of Iran…

A confrontation with Iran would be dangerous for Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan’s decision to let Israel use its territory for anti-Iranian
reconnaissance is dangerous for Iran, but it is no less dangerous for
Azerbaijan as it may lead to an Azeri-Iranian confrontation. One of
the scenarios the United States and NATO are considering for
withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan is the use of Azerbaijan’s
territory, which will hardly be good for the Azeri people. The mass
arrests of Shias in Nardaran are aimed against Iran. Azerbaijan should
not to conduct such a policy now that Wahhabis are getting
increasingly active in its south.

Over the last 2-3 years, some experts and politicians in Armenia have
revised the Armenian-Russian relations criticizing them for
inequality. What do Russian experts and politicians think of these
relations/

I’d not say that the relations have been revised. We can see certain
activation of the interests of the USA and NATO in Armenia. I think
Russia takes little efforts, maybe, because the Armenian-Russian
relations are at rather a high level and do not need any caution. The
two leaders have good personal relations and activity of the western
structures will hardly be able to spoil those relations. However, I
think it is necessary to be a little more cautious.

On the other hand, Russia still has no comprehensive policy in the
Caucasus. Russia does not perceive the Caucasus as a single whole. All
the countries in the Caucasus are inter-related, which must be
reflected in the Kremlin’s policy. Moscow needs an efficient policy
meeting the interests of all the subjects in the region.

There are hot debates in Armenia over deep integration into EU and
integration projects offered by Moscow. Is it a dilemma for Armenia or
complementary foreign policy?

To join the Customs Union, Armenia needs to sign certain documents.
However, Armenia will hardly manage to fulfill the provisions of those
documents unless the Russian-Georgian and Armenian-Azerbaijan
relations are settled and the railway communication via Abkhazia and
Georgia is restored. The idea of the Eurasian Union is worth
supporting, of course. I think it is a historical, strategic project
and the relations of Moscow and Tbilisi must be normalized. As for the
relations with the EU, I think Armenia’s joining that structure is
unreal.

European officials speak of `deep integration’ and not admission…

If Armenia continues integrating into the EU, it may be required to
stop its relations with Iran. The pro-European lobby in Armenia
consists of politicians receiving grants from Brussels. But they don’t
specify what benefits Armenia may expect from its integration into
Europe. The EU is not ready to make Armenia its member. On the other
hand, it may set preconditions, like withdrawal from the Collective
Security Treaty Organization, closer cooperation with NATO and no more
contacts with Iran. I don’t think that the last precondition will be
good for Armenia and its big community in Iran.

From: A. Papazian

An Armenian Named Talaat
By Khatchig Mouradian

June 29, 2013

Talaat is the son of an Armenian Genocide survivor.

I first met him on a cold January day in Lice (pronounced Leejeh), a
district near Diyarbakir perched on layer upon layer of violence’first
against the Armenians, then the Kurds.

It was a day before my scheduled speech at a conference in Ankara.

His family gave us a warm welcome. After all, I was friends with
Talaat’s brother, who had recently changed his Muslim name to Armen,
and was taking Armenian language courses in nearby Diyarbakir.

I do not remember how long I sat on the sofa in their quaint living
room, at loss with words, sipping my tea, and thinking about identity,
while my friends conversed with the family, diluting the awkwardness
of my silence.

lice2 An Armenian Named Talaat
The ruins of an Armenian church, with Lice in the background. (Photo
by Khatchig Mouradian)

Talaat’s father, Hovsep, was born in 1910 in an Armenian village in
Lice. His family was butchered during the genocide when he was five,
but somehow, he survived, and was taken in by a Muslim family, which
renamed him Bekir.

Bekir grew up as a devout Muslim, twice doing the pilgrimage to Mecca.
He had five sons, and even named one of them Talaat’ the name of
Ottoman Turkey’s Minister of the Interior at the time of the Armenian
genocide, and widely seen as the mastermind of this crime.

And now, Talaat, Armen’s brother, was sitting across from me, most
likely wondering why I had fallen silent after a few minutes of small
talk.

***

I grew up learning that a genocide survivor was someone who made it:
escaped the miasma of massacre, disease, and starvation, and rebuilt
their life either in Soviet Armenia or in the newly emerging Armenian
communities in foreign lands. These survivors often shared the same
roof with my generation.

But my encounters with hundreds of `hidden Armenians’ in Turkey, most
of whom, like me, are children and grandchildren of genocide
survivors, drove home the realization of how incomplete that
definition is.

The tens of thousands of Armenian women and children who converted to
Islam forcibly, or to escape death, were genocide survivors too.
Often, they were the siblings of the men and women who escaped, and
whom we now remember in Armenia or the Diaspora as our dear
grandmother or grandfather.

What made one in our eyes a Turk or a Kurd, sometimes an Arab, and the
other an Armenian Genocide survivor, was fate’or, simply, luck.

Many of these `hidden Armenians’ yearned to meet other, `certified
Armenians.’ Some went out of their way to show documents proving their
identity, seeking some kind of validation of identity from the latter.
And many wanted a hug.

***

Talaat’s grandnephew, barely two years old, was the center of
everyone’s attention that day. His dark, expressive eyes reminded me
of Armen and Talaat. I wondered what kind of Turkey he would grow up
in. I wondered what he would learn about the fate of his
great-grandfather Hovsep who turned into Bekir, and his great uncles
Armen and Talaat. I wondered what he would name his child: Talaat or
Zohrab?

I hugged Talaat that day. He then asked my Kurdish friend to take a
picture of the two of us. `What can I do,’ he said. `My blood is
calling.’

We returned to Diyarbakir that evening to catch my flight to Ankara.
Within hours, I was scheduled to deliver a talk, and I only had some
incomplete notes. But I wasn’t worried; I knew exactly what I was
going to say, and what language I was going to say it in.

That night in Ankara, I wrote down my speech in Turkish. Two friends I
was staying with, Bilgin and Å?ebnem, made sure the language was
impeccable.

The next morning, as I faced the audience from the podium, I was
thinking of my grandparents. But mostly, I was thinking of Talaat.

Author’s note: Talaat’s story has been gestating in my mind since
January 2013. I hoped I would be able to write it down after I visited
him again in May with a group of friends, but all I could come up with
was the title of the essay. Finally, upon reading news of police
violence in Lice on June 28, I sat down and wrote it. Perhaps one day,
Turkey will discover the strata of violent history in that region.

For the full text of Mouradian’s speech in Ankara, click here.

From: A. Papazian