Author: Andres-Papazian

PAPER SAYS BROTHER OF ORINATS YERKIR’S LEADER LEAVES ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 25, 2012 – 09:41 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Yerkir paper, the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA) clearly stated it has no intention to support
Orinats Yerkir at parliamentary elections.

Orinats Yerkir is hit hard by RPA’s move, paper says, realizing they
have no power without the ruling force.

Even Armen Baghdasaryan, brother of Orinats Yerkir leader Artur
Baghdasaryan who owns several large enterprises decided to sell his
property and leave Armenia.

According to paper’s sources, party leader does not even try to
persuade his relative to stay in the country.

From: A. Papazian

LE PRESIDENT OBAMA REFUSE DE PRONONCER LE MOT GENOCIDE
Laetitia

armenews.com
mercredi 25 avril 2012

Le president americain Barack Obama a de nouveau refuse de prononcer
le terme genocide pour evoquer les massacres de 1915 qu’ont subi les
Armeniens dans l’empire Ottoman alors qu’il rendait hommage mardi 24
avril 2012 aux victimes du genocide.

En cette ” Journee du souvenir armenien ” aux Etats-Unis, Obama a
utilise l’expression armenienne Meds Yeghern, ou grande calamite, pour
commemorer le 97e anniversaire des massacres et des deportations. ”
Aujourd’hui, nous commemorons le Medz Yeghern, l’une des pires
atrocites du 20e siècle “, a -t-il declare. ” Ce faisant, nous
honorons la memoire de 1,5 million d’Armeniens qui ont ete brutalement
massacres. Alors que nous reflechissons sur les souffrances qui ont
eu lieu il y a 97 ans, nous nous joignons aux millions de personnes
qui font la meme chose partout dans le monde et ici en Amerique,
où le massacre est solennellement commemore par nos Etats, par les
institutions, les communautes et les familles “, a-t-il dit. La
plupart des Etats americains ont deja reconnu le genocide armenien.

Obama fait marche arrière sur sa promesse de 2008 où il affirmait
que l’Amerique devait avoir un president qui parle ouvertement du
genocide. Après sa prise de fonction,il n’a pas souhaite se mettre
a dos la Turquie, un allie cle des Etats-Unis. En Avril 2009, il
a implicitement evoque la necessite de ne pas porter atteinte a un
rapprochement soutenu par les USA entre l’Armenie et la Turquie. Le
processus de normalisation turco-armenienne s’est finalement soldee
par un echec.

L’attitude d’Obama a provoque la colère de la communaute
armeno-americaine qui l’a soutenu massivement dans la course
presidentielle de 2008. Les deux principaux groupes de pression
armeno-americains ont critique sa dernière declaration.

L’Assemblee armenienne d’Amerique a affirme etre ” profondement decue
” par l’echec d’Obama a honorer sa promesse de campagne. Le Comite
national armenien d’Amerique(ANCA)a ete plus cinglant. ” Le president
Obama se soumet honteusement a la Turquie “, a declare Ken Hachikian,
le president du ANCA.

” ” La promesse du president Obama concernant la reconnaissance du
genocide armenien se presente aujourd’hui comme un mensonge, une
promesse douloureuse gravee dans les c~urs de tous ceux qui avaient
espere et travaille pour le changement, mais qui, aujourd’hui, ont
ete trahis par un homme politique qui a echoue et qui n’a pas tenu
ses promesses “, a conclu Hachikian.

From: A. Papazian

NADIM GEMAYEL CALLS FOR ACKNOWLEDGING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

NOW LEBANON

April 24 2012

Kataeb bloc MP Nadim Gemayel voiced his solidarity with the Armenians
in Lebanon on the 97th anniversary of the genocide of their kin by
Ottoman Turks during World War I, the National News Agency reported
on Tuesday.

“It is our responsibility to stand by [the Armenian people] and to
officially acknowledge this genocide and remove any shadow of doubt
concerning its occurence,” Gemayel said.

He added that the international community should issue “an official
apology” to the Armenian people.

Gemayel also called on the government to dedicate “one hour” in the
school curriculum for teaching about “what actually occurred during
this massacre.”

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I
as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several
other countries.

Turkey argues 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman
rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.

From: A. Papazian

ANOTHER PROMISE WITH AN EXPIRATION DATE
By Mark Krikorian

National Review Online

April 24 2012

Today is Armenian Martyrs’ Day, to remember those lost in the genocide
that started on this day in 1915. Jake Tapper at ABC notes President
Obama’s take:

On the fourth Armenian Remembrance Day of his presidency, President
Obama has for the fourth time in a row broken his promise to the
Armenian community to use the word “genocide” in describing what
happened at the hands of the Turks roughly a century ago.

As a senator, and then as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama often
talked about how bold he was to call the slaughter of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just what
it was: a genocide.

“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides,” he said. “I intend
to be that president.” In a January 2008 letter to the Armenian
Reporter, Mr. Obama said he shared “with Armenian Americans – so
many of whom are descended from genocide survivors – a principled
commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with
acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history.”

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DAY: WHY WON’T PRESIDENT OBAMA SAY THE ‘G’ WORD?
Olivia Katrandjian

Policy Mic

April 24 2012

Every year it rains on April 24th. They say the sky is crying.

This year was no exception.

Today, Armenians around the world commemorated the 97th anniversary
of a genocide that began on April 24, 1915, when Armenian leaders
and intellectuals were rounded up. Then came the able-bodied men of
each village, followed by women and children who were sent on death
marches into the desert. In total, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
were systematically murdered in the first genocide of the 20th century.

On August 22, 1939, a week before the German army’s invasion of Poland,
Adolf Hitler said to his commanders, “I have placed my death-head
formations in readiness … with orders to them to send to death
mercilessly and without compassion men, women and children of Polish
derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space
which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?”

My grandfather still speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians. He does not always remember my name, but he never forgets
that his mother was taken from her home and made to walk through the
desert for days at gunpoint with no food or water. She was forced
to leave her newborn baby on the side of the road when he died of
starvation in her arms. Her emaciated body had no milk. She couldn’t
feed him.

President Obama spoke of the annihilation of the Armenians as a senator
and then as a presidential candidate, promising to recognize it as
a genocide. “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about
the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides.

I intend to be that president,” he said then.

Today, for the fourth year in a row, he broke that promise, falling
short of using the word genocide to describe the vast atrocities,
which Turkey got away with, leading Hitler to believe he could get
away with the Holocaust. To you, Mr. President, I say what everyone
else is thinking but is not crude enough to say aloud: Grow a pair.

Even Turks still speak of the annihilation of the Armenians. Today, one
of the country’s biggest newspapers, Today’s Zaman, called on Turkey
to recognize the genocide, despite Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code, which makes it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish ethnicity,
or Turkish government institutions, and under which Turkey has jailed
more journalists than any other country in the world, including Iran
and China.

Today’s Zaman quoted the Armenian weekly Agos: “We are not any longer
debating what happened in 1915 in Turkey. Everyone debating on this
subject knows that, in this very dark year and the ensuing years,
hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted from their homes and were
never able to return, with a great majority of them lying somewhere in
some corner of Anatolia or in Syrian deserts without a tombstone. They
also know that many people had to convert their religions to be able
to survive and sought shelter in Muslim families … Nowadays, these
facts are only countered by the obdurate argument, “No one can ever
dare to say that we committed genocide!” As if, the use of any other
word could lessen all that happened …”

Today, a powerful and intelligent Armenian Diaspora is focused on
making sure that word is used. And understandably so – most Diasporans
are Diasporans because their ancestors were forced to flee Turkey
during the Genocide. But do not be afraid that the Genocide will
be forgotten, despite the cowardice of the Turkish and American
governments. The sky will always cry for Armenians on April 24,
and as even a Turkish newspaper noted, no matter what word is used,
everyone knows what happened in those very dark years.

From: A. Papazian

IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM DISPUTE, JUDGE RECOMMENDS $1.4M IN ATTORNEY FEES

The BLT: Blog of Legal Times

April 25 2012

Efforts to build a museum in Washington memorializing the mass killings
of Armenians during World War I have been stalled since the early
2000s, but attorneys involved in years-long litigation surrounding
the project’s failure are one step closer to being paid.

Litigation over who was to blame for the lack of progress pitted
a group of museum trustees against Minnesota philanthropist Gerard
Cafesjian, who donated millions of dollars towards the project and was
deeply involved in planning for several years. The Armenian Assembly
of America sued Cafesjian for breach of fiduciary duty in U.S.

District Court for the District of Columbia.

A Washington federal judge ruled in Cafesjian’s favor last year,
but fights over attorney fees and allegations of legal malfeasance
have persisted. Following a hearing last month on the attorney fees
dispute, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Alan Kay issued a report (PDF)
yesterday recommending $1.4 million be paid to Cafesjian’s legal team,
which was led by attorneys from Jones Day.

The report wasn’t a complete win for either side. U.S. District Judge
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the museum group was responsible
for paying Cafesjian’s attorneys for work they did responding to the
lawsuit, but not for any counterclaims Cafesjian brought. Kay was asked
to review each side’s position on fees and make a recommendation to
Kollar-Kotelly, who will make the final decision.

Cafesjian’s legal team argued that they should be entitled to 67
percent of the nearly $4 million in fees and other costs they logged
on the case. The museum trustees countered that they should only have
to pay 19 percent of those costs.

Kay sided with Cafesjian’s legal team on the issue of hourly rates,
finding that the museum should pay Jones Day’s hourly rates, which are
higher than the rates listed in fee guidelines for complex federal
litigation known as the Laffey Matrix. The museum group’s by-laws
don’t cap the amount of attorney fees the organization might owe to
former trustees sued over their work, Kay wrote, and he also noted
that the trustees used a firm that also bills high rates, K&L Gates.

But Kay wrote that he didn’t agree with either sides’ proposed amount,
instead recommending that the museum trustees pay 50 percent of
Cafesjian’s attorney fees and costs, coming to just over $1.4 million.

Kay wrote that some of the Cafesjian legal team’s practices were
“unreasonable,” such as billing too many hours for writing briefs,
billing for research by summer associates that may have been
unnecessary and bringing in another firm from Minnesota.

“[The museum] is grateful that Judge Kay has reduced the fee from
almost $3 million to less than $1.5 million,” the museum trustees’ lead
attorney, Eric Abraham of Hill Wallack in Princeton, N.J., wrote in an
e-mail on Wednesday. “We think there are substantial further reductions
and will ask Judge Kollar-Kotelly to make those adjustments.”

The museum is also moving for a new trial, arguing that they have
new evidence that Cafesjian promised to pay a witness to testify in
his favor at trial.

Cafesjian’s lead attorney, Cozen O’Connor attorney John Williams,
said that his team is “happy now to have it quantified.” Williams
was with Jones Day until January.

From: A. Papazian

PRESIDENT SLAMS FOREIGN FORCES OVER “INFORMATION WARFARE” AGAINST AZERBAIJAN

AzTV Baku
April 16 2012
Azerbaijan

[translated from Azeri]

Information warfare is being waged against Azerbaijan by foreign
forces, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on 16 April on the results of the first
quarter of 2012, Aliyev said that there were four forces that committed
“information provocations” against the country.

“Surely, the Armenian lobby is especially active in this information
warfare,” the president said in the speech, which was broadcast on
the state Azerbaijani television. He accused the Armenian lobby of
wrongly presenting Azerbaijan as a backward and undemocratic country
to the world.

The president said the second force were foreign political figures
influenced by the Armenian lobby and earning their “dirty money”.

“We know their names, we know them. Suffice it to look at the number
of their visits to the self-proclaimed Nagornyy Karabakh republic,
to understand why they go there,” Aliyev said.

The president went on to say that the third force were politicians
“infected by Islamophobia”. “These forces become unhappy and frustrated
when they see that Azerbaijan is a positive, modern country which
pursues an independent policy and is loyal to Islamic values. We should
always bear this factor in mind and try to change the situation in
our favour through our policies,” he said.

The fourth force waging the information warfare does not accept
Azerbaijan’s independent policies, the president said. “They believe
that Azerbaijan should not be pursuing independent policies, that
someone else should take it under their wing… There are also forces
that we know, that are secretly fighting against Azerbaijan. In some
cases they are waging this fight covertly, in the media field in a
cowardly manner,” Aliyev said.

“We must respond to every ungrounded attack, and we do so,” he added.

The president said that some forces used “information provocations”
in order to disturb the situation in the region and set Azerbaijan
against its neighbours.

“Azerbaijan will never get involved in the plans of foreign
countries… Azerbaijan will not turn into a confrontation arena.

Those who want to do so should go and look for another place. We will
never let our territory be used in some malicious plans against our
neighbours,” he said.

Foreign media criticized

Aliyev said that “a smear campaign” was under way in foreign media
against Azerbaijan in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest to
be held in Baku in late May.

“We know full well what forces are behind this campaign,” he said.

“There are countries that publish slanders about Azerbaijan every
week, even every day. Naturally, this is a coordinated policy. But
this policy will never succeed. Because there is no force that could
influence our policies and there will be none as long as I am in
this chair.”

The president criticized foreign media for speculating on the
demolition of illegally-built houses in Baku and for attempts to
link the demolitions to Eurovision. “This is part of a smear campaign
against Azerbaijan. Lies are reported, slanders are published.

Unfortunately, respectable TV channels and newspapers are involved
in this provocation,” Aliyev said.

He said that some 2,000 dollars are paid per square metre to owners
of the demolished houses in compensation and that the majority of the
owners are happy with this. “However, there are subversive forces that
are trying to take advantage of the situation and to link the general
process of renovation in our city to some events,” the president said.

Human rights, freedoms ensured

Aliyev said that democracy, human rights and freedoms were ensured in
Azerbaijan, including freedom of the internet, conscience and assembly.

“The Azerbaijani public have seen that there is freedom of assembly
in our country,” the president said, apparently referring to a rally
held by the opposition Public Chamber on 8 April. “If those who would
like to use this opportunity observe normal code of conduct and hold
their rallies at venues designated by the city authorities, then they
can benefit from freedom of assembly.”

Anti-corruption fight, energy security

Aliyev said that the fight against corruption and bribery should be
stepped up. “Making electronic services widely available is a major
factor in the fight against corruption and bribery,” he said.

“International experience should be fully applied, both administrative
and punitive actions should be stepped up in this regard. At the same
time, systemic and institutional reforms should be speeded up. The
fight should not abate even for a day or a minute. This problem should
always be in the focus.”

He also said that 300m manats, or 384.6m dollars, has been allocated
from the Oil Fund on a project to improve the living conditions of
displaced persons, which is to be completed by the end of this year.

Azerbaijan is recognized as a reliable partner in the energy security
field, the president said.

“We are involved in the energy security of other countries… We will
resolve energy security issues with partner countries on the basis of
mutual interests and mutual benefits. Today, Azerbaijan is turning
into a very important global player both in the oil and gas field,
the number of our partners is growing,” Aliyev said.

From: A. Papazian

REMEMBERING THE CATASTROPHIC EVENTS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE; ANNIVERSARY IS APRIL 24
By Olivia Kurajian Birmingham

Naples Daily News

April 23 2012

Although I am only in high school, I have traveled all around the
world and have lived in Colorado, Michigan and Florida.

This summer, I am participating as a People to People Ambassador
Program alumna, and I will be traveling to France, Austria, Switzerland
and Italy.

People to People, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, promotes
“peace through understanding.”

My love for travel and experience didn’t start with People to
People though. My thirst for knowledge originated with my paternal
grandparents, Victoria and George Kurajian, now of Naples.

My grandfather is my idol. He has told me stories of his childhood and
his life as a professor at the University of Michigan. My quest for
understanding other cultures and an in-depth knowledge of myself and my
surroundings only begins with the stories I have heard from my family.

Being of Armenian descent, I appreciate the struggles that Armenians
have faced throughout the longevity of their existence as a people.

I co-taught an elective in one of the honors programs at my high
school on the gruesome topic of the Armenian genocide with my favorite
teacher, Dawn Whitehead. I also received an honorable mention for the
paper on the genocide that I crafted for the annual Armenian Genocide
Essay Competition in Michigan.

The Armenian genocide was not a random act. Bitter hatred paired with
the lack of understanding of a people rich in culture and history
led to the attempt to annihilate the Armenians. This mission of
destruction was pursued by the Young Turkish government, influenced
by the Hamidian massacres of the late 1880s, an attempt to exterminate
the Armenians 20 years earlier.

The Young Turks were in turmoil. Not only did the Ottoman Empire
start and continue to crumble, but the government realized that the
intellectual body of their state was held by Armenians. Who was to
blame for the problems that the empire was facing? The Armenians,
they said.

April 24, 1915, marked the start of an unimaginable tragedy.

Approximately 800 Armenian intellectuals, writers and leaders residing
in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) were arrested by Turkish
officers. Many of them were murdered.

In addition, around 5,000 of the poorest of Armenians in Constantinople
were butchered in the streets in front of their loved ones.

Armenians continued to be murdered and slaughtered by members of
the Young Turkish government until 1923. Hidden behind the first
world war, the devastation continued. The war covered up the deaths
of the Armenian people, but there was only so much the Young Turkish
government could conceal before news leaked out. Several international
governmental officials, including Henry Morgenthau Sr., U.S.

ambassador to Turkey, recognized the atrocities taking place in the
falling Ottoman Empire.

Djemal, Enver and Talaat were the three heads of the mission to
annihilate the Armenians. They succeeded in killing 1.5 million
of them.

They were found guilty of the crimes.

Shouldn’t the United States be found guilty too? Historians have
recognized the truth for decades, and almost 100 years later, many
states within the U.S. provide their recognition, but the federal
government will not.

The Turkish government continues to hold the United States hostage in
many respects of acknowledging the massacres. Strategic military bases
to fight the war in the Middle East hold the United States captive
from admitting the truth – the truth that is waiting to be told.

How long must the Armenians wait to be noticed and to be offered help?

They watch as their churches dating back to the fourth century are
demolished, along with some of their hope.

Remember the horrifying acts perpetrated by the Young Turkish
government and remember the lack of aid to fellow humans.

As the years advance, the displayed bitter hatred seems less and less
important. History is something that defines who we are, what we came
from. To twist it, manipulate it and destroy evidence of it is doing
an injustice to all of humanity.

From: A. Papazian

WORLD MARKS 97TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

news.am
April 24, 2012 | 00:01

YEREVAN.- Many world states and Armenia itself commemorate on April
24 the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide
of the 20th century.

Commemoration actions are held in all states, people remember this
monstrous crime against humanity as over one and a half million
innocent Armenians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, while hundreds
of thousands were tortured and deported.

Protest actions in front of Turkish Embassies are planned in many
states, as Ankara still refuses to acknowledge the fact after almost
hundred years.

The key events will be held in Yerevan near the Memorial to Armenian
Genocide victims in Tsitsernakaberd. Armenia’s authorities, Catholicos
of All Armenians, state and public institution representatives,
hundreds of thousands citizens and guests will visit Tsitsernakaberd
to honor the memory of the victims.

Traditional march with torches will be held on Monday evening in
Armenia’s capital. Thousands of people with banners and flags will
gather in the downtown Yerevan to express their protest against
the denial policy run by Turkey. After the rally and burning of the
Turkish flag, people will move to Tsisternakaberd.

The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It
was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognized

by Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland,
Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon,
Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.

Yerevan and Ankara declared about their intentions to reconcile
bilateral relations on the eve of the 94th anniversary of the
Genocide. However, a year later on April 22, 2010, the Armenian side
had to declare about suspension of ratification of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols signed on Oct. 10, 2009 in Zurich.

Armenia explained its decision by non-constructive stance displayed by
the Turkish officials and prolonging the ratification by the Turkish
side. Turkey in particular links normalization of the relations with
Armenia with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN ENVOY INAUGURATES RADIO STATION’S STUDIO IN YEREVAN – REPORT

Islamic Republic of Iran News Network IRINN
April 22 2012
Iran

Iranian ambassador to Armenia Ali Saghayan has inaugurated a
newly-established studio of Radio Impuls in Yerevan on the occasion
of the 20th anniversary of Iran-Armenia diplomatic relations, Iranian
news network IRINN reported.

According to the report, radio Impuls of Armenia has taken the measure
to broadcast “true and reliable news about Iran”.

From: A. Papazian