Author: Andres-Papazian

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
March 7 2012

Why Golda Meir was right (II)

by Burak Bekdil

In the half a year since I wrote `Why Golda Meir was right’ (Hürriyet
Daily News, Aug.
23, 2011) the Syrian death toll has moved from 2,000 to over 7,000 –
about five times more than the Palestinian casualties during Israel’s
Operation Cast Lead in late 2008 and early 2009.

These distressing figures forcefully remind us of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s famous dictums: 1. Muslims don’t kill, and 2. (Jews)
know well how to kill.

`Why Golda Meir was right’ aimed to illustrate unpleasant death
statistics in a way Islamist ears refuse to hear:

`Sudan is not in the conventional Middle East, so let’s ignore the
genocide there. Let’s ignore, also, the West Pakistani massacres in
East Pakistan (Bangladesh) totaling 1.25 million in 1971. Or the
200,000 deaths in Algeria in the war between Islamists and the
government from 1991 to 2006.

`But simple, strictly Middle East research will give you 1 million
deaths in the all-Muslim Iran-Iraq war; 300,000 Muslim minorities
killed by Saddam Hussein; 80,000 Iranians killed during the Islamic
revolution; 25,000 deaths from 1970 to 1971, the days of Black
September, by the Jordanian government in its fight against the
Palestinians; and 20,000 Islamists killed in 1982 by the elder
al-Assad in Hama. The World Health Organization’s estimate of Osama
bin Laden’s carnage in Iraq was already 150,000 a few years earlier.

`In a 2007 study, Gunnar Heinsohn from the University of Bremen and
Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, found that some 11
million Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which
35,000, (0.3 percent) died during the six years of Arab war against
Israel, or one out of every 315 fatalities. In contrast, over 90
percent who perished were killed by fellow Muslims.’

More recently, in a blistering critique of Iran’s sectarian support
for the Syrian regime, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said on Feb.
5: `I am addressing the Islamic Republic of Iran: I do not know if you
are worthy of being called Islamic. Have you said a single thing about
what is happening in Syria?’

Mr. Arınç was right. All the same, someone else could have simply
asked: `I am addressing Turkey’s good Muslim rulers: I do not know if
you are worthy of being called good Muslims. Have you said a single
thing about what happened in Sudan? About what is happening in
Bahrain? Which religion is the perpetrator of never-ending murders in
the Middle East and North Africa (including Syria)? Why do Muslims
kill other Muslims en masse, then turn around and tell the entire
world that `Muslims don’t kill?’ What is the world’s real Muslim
population if all of these killings have been perpetrated by
non-Muslims?’

Why did thousands of Turks who gathered in a demonstration to protest
the Khojaly massacre of 1992 praise and semantically impersonate Ogün
Samast, the killer of Turkish journalist of Armenian origin Hrant
Dink? Why did they shout `You are all Armenians, you are all
bastards?’ Were those Turks, who were ready to butcher any Armenian in
sight, Buddhists?

But according to Mr. ErdoÄ?an, the too-visible hate-speech at that
demonstration merely constituted an `isolated/individual incident.’ In
other words, none of the hate slogans, chants and placards at the
gathering are worth investigating legally. Would Mr. Erdogan think the
same if the same hate speech had been directed at Muslims or Turks?
Are we not all equal before the law?

Mr. Erdogan is siding with the Syrians oppressed by the al-Assad
regime. Perhaps he should lend an ear to one of the victims, a
one-legged revolutionary singer undergoing medical treatment in safe
Turkish territory. Time magazine quotes the man, one of the 300 who
have fled to Turkey in the most recent wave of refugees, as saying:
`We’d rather accept Israel than Bashar [¦] The Israelis didn’t do to
the Palestinians what Bashar has done to Syria.’
Who, really, knows better how to kill?
March/07/2012

From: A. Papazian

APA, Azerbaijan
March 7 2012

Azerbaijan’s ruling party: `The refusal of participation in Eurovision
will cause serious damage to Armenia’s bad image’

[ 07 Mar 2012 19:32 ]
Baku. Shahriyar Alizadeh – APA. `The refusal of participation in
Eurovision will cause serious damage to Armenia’s bad image’, said YAP
Deputy Chairman, Executive Secretary Ali Ahmadov, APA reports.

Ahmadov said that Azerbaijan created every condition for Armenian
representatives to participate in the contest.

Ahmadov also commented on the Nakhchivan meeting of Azerbaijani,
Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers and said that such meeting was
held constantly: `I consider that these meetings are significant for
solving the problems of mutual interest. Azerbaijan was always ready
for such meetings’.

From: A. Papazian

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 7 2012

Armenia boycotts 2012 Eurovision

The Public TV of Armenia informed the European Broadcasting Union
(EBU) about its decision to opt out of the 2012 Eurovision Song
Contest, the contest’s website says.

Jon Ola Sand, Executive Supervisor of the song contest, expressed
regret over Armenia’s decision.

The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the Baku Crystal
Hall, which is under construction at the State Flag Square. It will
hold up to 23,000 spectators, 16,000 more will watch the show on big
monitors live.

Semi-finals will be held on May 22 and 24, final on May 26.

The contest logo is a Fire Flower under the slogan `Light your fire’.
Azerbaijan won the 2011 Eurovision in Dusseldorf with performance of
its singers Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal (Ell/Nikki).

From: A. Papazian

Defense Ministry celebrates Women’s Day (photos)

tert.am
19:15 • 07.03.12

Ahead of Women’s International Day, the Defense Ministry hosted
ceremony to honor women’s role in the military.

Congratulating the servicewomen and female freedom fighters attending
the event, Minister Seyran Ohanyan highly praised their role in the
Nagorno-Karabakh liberation war and the present-day Armed Forces.

Under the minister’s decree, several servicewomen and female civil
servants, as well as the mothers of three soldiers were honored with a
memory medal dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the national Armed
Forces. The mother of Vazgen Sargsyan, Armenia’s former prime minister
and a Karabakh war hero gunned down during a terrorist attack at the
National Assembly in 1999, was honored with a the Coat of Arms
departmental medal.

From: A. Papazian

Territory of New Armenia 2

Haik Aramyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 22:12:49 – 07/03/2012

The minister of foreign affairs of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan who was
asked to comment on the government decision to hand over several
hectares of land and premises said they are hardly worth 10 thousand
dollars. Instead, the Russians have leased a building to Armenia for
100 years. In 100 years the building will be returned to Russia,
whereas several hectares of land will remain the property of Russia,
if certainly other land is not given to Russia in the next 100 years.
Simple logic is to lease this land for 100 years.

100 years seem something remote, almost indefinite. However, in the
Armenian history land was given to others hectare by hectare, for `one
hundred years’. With such enviable stubbornness and consistency that
surprised even the most ruthless invaders.

Of course, there are no illusions that for the Armenian government the
territory of Armenia is a value, at least worth 10 thousand, unless it
is their personal property. There are numerous cases in the Armenian
history when the secular government and the clergy, nip and tuck, left
the country to the mercy of invaders to protect themselves.
Themselves, not the country and people. Galust Sahakyan was sincere
when he said if it were necessary, they would go to the Muslim world.
They would go anywhere to escape the problems of the country and to
keep their own possessions.

A little far from the government the space of the self-determined
citizen of Armenia was declared in the Mashtots Park. There the
citizen protects his space which is not only the material which does
not have a cadastre value and is not FOR SALE and TO LET. This space
is the dignity and rights of the Armenian people which will be
enlarged consistently, and will clear the country from those for who
the homeland is the square centimeters and hectares registered in the
cadastre.

From: A. Papazian

Ekmekcioglu to Speak at Columbia on `Women and Children After Genocide’

by Armenian Weekly
March 6, 2012

NEW YORK – On Wed., March 21, Dr. Lerna Ekmekcioglu will give a lecture
entitled `A Climate for Abduction, A Climate for Redemption: Armenian
Women and Their Children During and Immediately After the Genocide’ at
Knox Hall 207, Columbia University, 606 West 122nd Street (between
Broadway and Claremont Avenue). The lecture is sponsored by the
Middle East Institute at Columbia University, the Armenian Center at
Columbia University, and the National Association for Armenian Studies
and Research (NAASR).

Ekmekcioglu
Ekmekciolgu’s talk will focus on two processes. The first is the
forcible incorporation of Armenians into Muslim households and
orphanages during World War I. Ekmekcioglu will elaborate the
historical reasons that enabled Ottoman politicians to conceive such a
policy and the Ottoman Muslim society to successfully implement it.
She will then discuss post-war Armenian attempts to rescue the
kidnapped. She argues that this effort remained extremely inclusive
whereby rape victims, former concubines, and wives, as well as their
(technically) Muslim children were treated as full-fledged Armenians.
This administrative policy, however, did not necessarily reflect the
victims’ and their relatives’ perceptions of who could, after 1915,
belong to the Armenian nation and who would have to be left out
forever.

Lerna Ekmekcioglu is the McMillan-Stewart Career Development Assistant
Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT). She received her undergraduate degree from Istanbul’s Bogazici
University and her Ph.D. in history and Middle Eastern and Islamic
studies from New York University. In 2010-11, she held a
post-doctoral fellowship in the Armenian Studies Program of the
University of Michigan. Currently she is revising a book entitled
Surviving the New Turkey: Armenians in Post-Ottoman Istanbul,
1918-1935.

Ekmekcioglu’s lecture begins at 6:30 p.m. For more information, e-mail
[email protected] or e-mail [email protected], visit
, or call (617) 489-1610.

From: A. Papazian

WOMEN’S DAY EVENT ON THURSDAY 8 MARCH HOSTS MAGGIE ESKIDJIAN

Gibrahayer

Following ARS Sosse Chapter’s monthly meeting on Thursday 8 March,
Nareg School Armenian language and Armenian History teacher Maggie
Eskidjian will give a lecture on Women’s Day. The lecture is open to
all members (not only women) of the community and will begin at 7:00
pm at Homenetmen – AYMA. The lecturer’s topic is `Armenian Women in
Modern Times’.

Maggie Eskidjian was born in Nicosia and lived in Famagusta.
She attended the Armenian Elementary School in Famagusta for 5 years
and after the Turkish invasion, the Elementary in Nicosia for 4 years.
After graduating the Melkonian Educational Institute’s 6-year
education programme, she left for Yerevan and studied Literature at
the Yerevan State University. Having acquired her Master’s Degree,
she returned to Cyprus, teaching Armenian Language, Literature,
Ancient Armenian, Manuscriptology and Ordinary and Advanced Level
Classical Armenian. For the past 15 years, she has taught at Nareg
School, undertaking Armenian and Armenian History classes. For the
past 3 years, she is a candidate of the Pedagogical Department of the
Yerevan State University, preparing her doctorate thesis, her Ph.D,
having as a subject `The Educational Task in
Cyprus’.
Her preferences are the thirst for reading books…especially
literary and philosophical ones, as well as writing narrations on
philosophical works, which are already published in Armenian daily or
monthly newspapers.
Next month, the Writers’ Union’s 6th conference will take place
in Armenia, to which she has been invited as a young Armenian-Cypriot
writer.

From: A. Papazian

Plastic surgeries cost cheaper in Armenia

18:15 – 07.03.12

Cosmetic surgeries in Armenia are 4-5 times less costly compared to
Europe and the United States, says Tigran Sargsyan, a plastic surgeon.

`The lowest price for plastic nose surgeries here is 300,000 drams
(about $770). As for breast surgeries, their prices vary. If the
patient brings the implants, the minimum price is 400,000 Drams (about
$ 1,000), if not, all depends on the implant selected,’ he told
Tert.am.

The doctor noted that patients generally remain satisfied with their
services, adding that they often receive orders from foreign states.
He said women more often apply for breast implants after remaining
breastless in the aftermath of a cancer surgery.

Speaking of skin surgeries he said their guarantees very often depend
on post-surgical care.

Sargsyan said the existing technical equipment and highly qualified
specialists are completely enough to perform all the plastic surgeries
on a proper level.

Tert.am

From: A. Papazian

Armenian community does not tie big expectations from meeting with Sarkozy

16:03, 7 March, 2012

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. President of France Nicolas Sarkozy will
present the reasons of not presenting the new bill penalizing
genocides by the end of his presidency at the March 7 meeting with the
representatives of the Armenian community. Speaking to Armenpress,
director of the ARF Armenian Cause office of France Hrach Varzhapetyan
said the delegation representing Armenian community will include all
the political flows which want to understand why the new bill will be
presented after presidential elections.

“At the meeting the President will present the reasons as well as his
viewpoint over the discussion of the bill during the past two months.
The expectations are not great at all,” Varzhapetyan said. He noted
that the Armenian community is dissatisfied that Sarkozy did not keep
his promise given in Armenia as they hoped to see new bill by the end
of his presidency.

From: A. Papazian

Serzh Sargsyan: I am confident that EP cannot be based on different
principles while passing resolution on same issue

17:05 07/03/2012 » Politics

At the joint press briefing of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and
European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Brussels, a Panorama.am
reporter asked the Armenian President to comment on the attempts and
intentions to hold discussions and to pass resolutions on Karabakh
issue in European structures, in particular in the European
Parliament.

`We are quiet about it, because the European Parliament began to dwell
on Karabakh issue a long time ago,’ said the Armenian President.

He reminded those present that all European structures supported the
fair demand of Karabakh people in the late 80s and early 90s.

`The European Parliament adopted resolutions then. I am convinced that
the European Parliament cannot be based on different principles while
passing a resolution on the same issue. So there is nothing to worry
about,’ said Serzh Sargsyan.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz noted that at the meeting
they had discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.

`We agreed that Madrid Principles, adopted through the efforts of OSCE
Minsk Group, are the common way for conflict settlement,’ said Schulz.

Serzh Sargsyan reiterated that the Armenian side sees the conflict
settlement exclusively through peaceful means, in the Minsk Group
format.

The Armenian President also hailed the conclusions of the Council of
the European Union mentioning the necessity of EU representatives’
visits to Artsakh.

Source: Panorama.am

From: A. Papazian