Author: Andres-Papazian

A group of Ukrainian public figures to request Ukraine’s leadership to
recognize Armenian Genocide

arminfo
Saturday, April 14, 15:40

On April 13, the Press Center of a Ukrainian news agency hosted a
roundtable on “Armenian Genocide: impunity brings forth relapse”. The
roundtable was initiated by Amram Petrosian, Head of the Party of
Pensioners of Ukraine.

Analitika.at.ua reports that well-known Ukrainian political experts,
scientists, journalists, politicians and public figures participated
in the roundtable. The participants made a decision to request the
President and Parliament of Ukraine to recognize the Armenian Genocide
at the legislative level. The participants also watched the film
“Common genocide: Maragha, 10 April 1992” shot by the Public Relations
and Information Department of the Armenian President’s Administration.

To note, the process of Ukraine’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide
started on 19 May 2005, when the Supreme Rada of Crimea made a
decision to declare April 24 the Day of Remembrance for the victims of
the Armenian people’s tragedy.

From: A. Papazian

Icelandic MPs call for the government to recognize Armenian Genocide

17:24, 14 April, 2012

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: The Icelandic MPs have submitted a
proposal calling for the country’s government to recognize the fact of
the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire in the early
20th century. Margrét Tryggvadóttir, an MP for The Movement, heads the
proposal calling for Iceland’s formal recognition of the Armenian
Genocide, reports Armenpress citing Nouvelles d’Armenie.

The other two Movement MPs – Þór Saari and Birgitta Jónsdóttir – join
her, along with Lilja Mósesdóttir and Guðmundur Steingrímsson,
chairpersons of Solidarity and Bright Future, respectively.

From: A. Papazian

Signs of Oligarchy’s Agony

Naira Hayrumyan
Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 14:31:56 – 14/04/2012

The election process runs on two planes which cross from time to time. One
is the traditional criminal planes where the interests of Republicans and
Prosperous Armenia clash.

In Armenia all the recent elections took place on this plane. In 2008 Levon
Ter-Petrosyan tried to insert a new plane, the ideological plane, but faced
the strong resistance of the Republicans and the PAP which deployed the
best criminal arsenal against the Popular Movement.

Now the situation is a little different. First, the Republicans and PAP are
now rivals, and the criminal world is involved in a life and death battle.
The first victims are there. The Republican candidate used violence to
force his rival, while the future son-in-law of the mayor of Gyumri was
killed, and the mayor immediately blamed the PAP.

The chief of police Vova Gasparyan did not respond to violence in Armavir
but announced after Gyumri without investigation and trial that it was not
an assassination. In some aspects, he is right because the relations of the
two parties are difficult to describe as political. They are clear criminal
relations between clans. And it is not accidental that `political’ fiction
often uses Ghukasyan family, Abrahamyan clan and other similar phrases.

Having grabbed all the national wealth during the war and the post-soviet
economic policy, these groups are not used to ideological struggle. In this
system murders are a frequently used method, and they always carry guns.

A different campaign is conducted by the Armenian National Congress, ARF
Dashnaktsutyun, Heritage and Free Democrats. The representatives of these
parties try to set forth ideological theses. And it is not important if
they are right or not. They are trying to shift the elections from the
criminal plane to the public plane where the criminal withers right away.

The criminal oligarchy refuses political debates. It is not a matter of
intellect. They are simply afraid of losing their only `political’ weapon –
the gun. Their statements sound like hysterical shouts of free style fights
emitted to weaken the opponent’s self-confidence. They understand elections
as free-style wrestling.

The representatives of the ideological politics do not reply and try to
drive them to the arena of political debate.

It is notable that a secretion of the criminal and ideological segment is
underway inside the PAP and the Republican Party. For example, Vartan
Oskanian’s remarks intend to mould an ideological party out of the
inherently criminal one. A similar process is underway in the Republican
Party where supporters of political dialogue are many. Nevertheless, Serzh
Sargsyan is not ashamed of making calls for voting his supporters whose
hands are stained with blood.

Are these elections a chance to push the criminal from politics? For them,
false criminal honor is beyond human life. In normal politics, honor and
human life are other values.

Now it is obvious that the abrupt movements of the criminal are the result
of their agony. A criminal member of parliament who makes cynical
statements cannot feel how funny he looks.

The clash of the two planes – the ideological and criminal – may lead to
revolutionary change and if the criminal is able to keep its foothold firm,
its days in power are counter. That is the end when he looks funny for his
entourage.

From: A. Papazian

People sooner or later will shake off oligarchs’ yoke upon them –
United Armenians Party

news.am
April 14, 2012 | 15:33

YEREVAN. – The United Armenians Party today comes out as a third
political force, Party member Hovhannes Hovhannisyan stated during a
press conference on Saturday.

`You know all the political officials well. Now, we need to serve our
people. By coming to the parliament [as a result of the forthcoming
National Assembly elections], we will adopt several laws to contribute
to the country’s improvement,’ Hovhannisyan said and added: `If the
people wish to change the state of affairs, they will vote for us.’

`The people sooner or later will shake off the oligarchs’ yoke placed
upon them, and they will triumph. If the people wish, we will come to
power and work, [and] if [they] do not wish, we will not come to
power,’ Hovhannes Hovhannisyan noted.

As per the United Armenians Party member, the Party’s funding has come
solely from the membership fees paid by its 5,000 members.

From: A. Papazian

Paper claims Prosperous Armenia’s alleged links to Gyumri homicide

April 14, 2012 – 11:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net –

Armenian police chief Vladimir Gasparyan told journalists on April 13
that murder of Karen Yesayan, fiancé of Armenian Gyumri city mayor
Vardan Ghukasyan’s daughter has no political implication.

`I insist that there are no political motives behind this case. Also,
there are no crimes that cannot be disclosed, and this one is no
exception; it will be unveiled soon,’ police chief declared commenting
on the homicide.

Karen Yesayan, 27,was killed on April 12 night.

Meanwhile, mayor Ghukasyan declared that the incident did not take
place on the ground of jealousy (this version was rumored on April 13
among Gyumri locals). He referred to political reasons with regard to
the murder, 168 Hours paper reports.

Mayor also said that those detained in relation to this case include
`prominent members’ of Prosperous Armenia party who aimed to his
withdrawal from the election campaign.

From: A. Papazian

Charles Aznavour cancels concert in Quebec

news.am
April 14, 2012 | 13:38

QUEBEC. – Charles Aznavour postponed his concert in Quebec due to
voice problems.

At the Capitol Hall in Quebec, Canada, where Charles Aznavour’s
concert was supposed to take place on Thursday, the great singer
appeared on the stage under a tornado of applauds only to announce
with a weak voice that he has to postpone their meeting until Sunday.

Aznavour, 87, appeared on stage with delay and elegantly delivered the
news frustrating the audience who at first did not react thinking it
was a joke, Le Journal de Quebec reports.

However, it was not a joke. With a hoarse voice Aznavour apologized
announcing that it was the first time he had to cancel his concert at
the last minute.

According to his producer, Aznavour was very sad when he left the
stage especially because the unfortunate incident happened in his
favorite city Quebec.

It was expected that the Armenian singer would perform 28 songs for 2
hours 15 minutes without a break. This would have been Aznavour’s
third concert in Quebec.

From: A. Papazian

Commemoration of 97th Anniversary of Armenian Genocide in Assen

10:30, 14 April, 2012

YEREVAN, APRIL 14, ARMENPRESS: On Tuesday 24 April 2012, the Armenian
community of Holland will commemorate the 97th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide by laying wreaths at the Armenian Genocide Memorial
in Assen, The Netherlands. The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. at
the cemetery “De Boskamp”, address: Boskamp 5 in Assen, Netherlands.
The commemoration is organised by the 24 April Committee of FAON in
cooperation with the Foundation Armenia in Assen, reports Armenpress.

The commemoration at the Memorial of Armenian Genocide victims in
Assen is part of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide of
1915, which is organised by 24 April Committee of the Federation of
Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON). In this context
three other events will take place in following chronological order.

On Friday, 13 April, Turkish Dutch scholar Dr. Ugur Umit Üngör will
give in The Hague a lecture a lecture entitled “The Armenian Genocide
and the Making of Modern Turkey”. Dr. Ugur Umit Üngör is Assistant
Professor at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide
Studies. He is also author of several books and articles on the
Armenian Genocide. The lecture starts at 7 p.m. at the Abovian
Armenian Cultural Centre, addresse: Weesperstraat 91 in The Hague.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m.. The lecture is organised by the 24 April
Committee of FAON in cooperation with the Armenian Cultural
Association Abovian in The Hague.

On Friday, 20 April an exhibition on the Armenian Genocide will be
opened in Almelo by the Dutch MP for the Christian Democrate faction
Mr. Pieter Omtzigt. The exhibition exposes Articles in Dutch
newspapers from early last century on masacres and deportations of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, letters, photographs etc. The opening
of exhibition will take place at 7 p.m. At the Armenian Foundation
Yerevan, address: Wierdensestraat 127 in Almelo. Doors open at 6:15
p.m. The exhibition is organised by the Foundation Yerevan and AGBU
Holland in Almelo in cooperation with the 24 April Committee of FAON.

On Tuesday, 24 April 24, the annual commemoration ceremony will be
held at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Assen. The ceremony starts
at 1 p.m. at the cemetery “De Boskamp”, address: Boskamp 5 in Assen.
The commemoration ceremony will be followed by a meeting in the
auditorium of the Boskamp cemetery with artistic performances and
speakers. Armenian film director and public figure Tigran Khzmalyan
from Armenia will be present at this meeting.

The commemoration of 97th anniversary of Armenian Genocide will be
concluded on Wednesday, 25 April in Eindhoven with the screening of
the movie “Unpunished Crime” by film director Tigran Khzmalyan. The
film is based on the photographs of Armin Wegner on the Armenian
Genocide. The film director Tigran Khzmalyan will be present at this
screening. During this commemorative event classical music will be
played by Tigran Maytesyan (violin), Maxim Bandurin (piano) and Rustam
Hakobdjanian (duduk). This commemorative evening will take place at 8
p.m. at the Pathe cinema Eindhoven, address: Dommelstraat 27 in
Eindhoven. This event is organised by the Foundation Alfa-Eriwan in
Eindhoven in cooperation with the 24 April Committee of FAON.

From: A. Papazian

CAUCADOC project launched in Armenia

arminfo
Saturday, April 14, 13:16

CAUCADOC project was officially launched in Armenia Apr 12.

CAUCADOC has been organized by People in Need, Internews Armenia and
Sakdoc Film are launching CAUCADOC, is funded by the EU Eastern
Partnership Culture programme and will use the 14 years experience of
the People in Need’s international human rights documentary film
festival One World.

The organizers report that the project supports documentary filmmaking
in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan.

CAUCADOC includes residential workshops dedicated to the development
of creative documentary films from the South Caucasus, a series of
master classes and lectures at partnering festivals Golden Apricot
IFF, Batumi Art House FF and Tbilisi IFF, and a series of debates
focusing on key issues related to audiovisual industry in the region.
CAUCADOC also supports local initiatives in organizing screenings and
follow up debates throughout the region, as well as the use of
documentary films at schools.

“We want to get more people interested in documentary film as an art
form and also start up a documentary platform in the region,” says
Anna Dziapshipa from Sakdoc. Also, CAUCADOC aims to enhance public
debate on recent and current issues of interest or controversy in
South Caucasus. “Documentary films are really a serious tool in the
society in terms of helping to better understand each other,” says
Nouneh Sarkissian, director of Internews Armenia.

Within two years CAUCADOC will train filmmakers, inviting experienced
tutors from the European documentary film industry. ?Even though we
have several good examples of new documentary films, which were made
to international standards, the level of film education still remains
a major obstacle,` explains Anna Dziapshipa why such support is
essential. There will be int”ensive project development course for
selected film makers and also master classes open to broad film
audience. “The first master class will take place during the Golden
Apricot IFF in July,” says Nouneh Sarkissian.

“For CAUCADOC, bringing documentaries to those living far from
capitals is as important as support for film professionals,” says
Sarka Zahradnikova from People in Need.

Therefore, CAUCADOC will support small-scale local documentary film
festivals. Documentaries will also be introduced to schools as
effective methodology for civic education.

From: A. Papazian

Katherine Leach: NATO supports first of all the countries which were
behind the iron curtain

arminfo
Saturday, April 14, 13:17

NATO supports first of all the countries which were behind the iron
curtain, as these countries most of all need cooperation and
protection, the UK Ambassador to Armenia Katherine Leach said at a
conference “NATO and the New Developments in the World” on Friday. She
added that the cooperation and the support should be bilateral.

Katherine Leach said that NATO was created to maintain peace and
stability in the world during the cold war. She stressed that NATO
focuses on collective defense, collective security, as well as on
overcoming the crises and fighting the terrorism.

She said that NATO’s operation in Afghanistan showed that not
everything in the Alliance’s actions was right. During the NATO Summit
in Chicago in May 2012, the Alliance will try to distribute the
obligations among the member countries, as the cooperation should not
be static. She added that NATO is also ready to cooperate with Russia,
however, it will naturally long.

The ambassador also pointed out NATO’s willingness to cooperate with
its southern neighbors, whose support is necessary, particularly,
during the conflicts in the region. After the so-called “Arab spring”,
much has changed, she said. Libya’s example demonstrated how
effectively NATO can work. She added that the North Atlantic Alliance
is also going to cooperate with Qatar, the UAE and Australia, which
may become reliable partners of NATO in many spheres.

From: A. Papazian

SARCASTIC REACTION TO TURKEY WOOING ‘SOFT’ ARMENIANS
By Jirair Tutunjian

April 13, 2012

As of this morning, I will wait with bated breath for the postman
to deliver the buff envelope with the crescent-and-star insignia
of the Turkish Embassy on the top left corner. In it I expect to
find an invitation for a two-week familiarization trip to Turkey,
featuring a whirlwind visit to Turkish government archives which
would prove there was no genocide, followed by a visit to the Great
Mustapha’s mausoleum to place a wreath. I will then traipse through
3,000-year-old fortresses, places of worship and monuments erected
by the Trojans/Lydians/Hittites (all ancestors of the Turks). We
will then make a circle tour of Gozan (Sis), Sanliurfa(Yetesia),
Gaziantep (Aintab) and other towns in Cukurova (Cilicia). We will
then visit Myra, the birthplace of St. Nicholas, the Turkish bishop
who was the original Santa Claus. To wrap up the trip, I expect to
be regaled with shish kebab, raki, chifteh telli and belly dancing
at a cafe overlooking the Bosporus.

I will return from the junket with several kilograms of Turkish
bumph about “Turkey: bridge between East and West”, “Turkey: Model
Muslim Democracy”, “Turks: the Origin of the Human Race”, “Armenian
Terrorists Allies of El-Qaida”, “1,000 Turks Who Changed the World.” I
would expect that the man from Turkish foreign ministry insist that he
pay the airline for the extra weight. And yes, I will also be carrying
a bronze bust of the Great Mustapha as a souvenir of my historic trip
and a symbol of the eternal friendship between Armenians and Turks.

Upon my return, I will tell every one I know that Turks are our bosom
cousins, that some Armenians were killed by Kurdish and Circassian
bandits in 1915, that some treacherous Armenian revolutionaries
had wanted to tear apart Turkey and eventually rule it with Russian
help, and mention the benefits of Armenia becoming a Turkish vassal
state…discount-price canned imam bayildi, Turkish Delight, tickets
to Galatasarai football matches, and endless supply of lachrymose
Turkish soap operas and inane comedies.

I think I just heard the postman ring the bell.

From: A. Papazian