Author: Babajanian Karo

JOINT COMMISSION TO COORDINATE ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN INQUIRY INTO GYUMRI MURDER

Interfax, Russia
Jan 20 2015

YEREVAN. Jan 20

A commission will be formed to coordinate a joint Armenian-Russian
inquiry against Russian soldier Valery Permyakov, who is suspected
of murdering an Armenian family in the city of Gyumri on January
12, Armenian Investigative Committee spokesperson Sona Truzyan told
Interfax.

“At a meeting in Yerevan, the chairmen of the Investigative Committees
of Armenia and Russia, Aghvan Hovsepyan and Alexander Bastrykin, agreed
to coordinate their joint efforts in order to ensure a comprehensive
investigation,” Truzyan said.

The parties also reiterated the importance of “strictly observing
the procedure for collecting evidence in accordance with the law,”
she said.

“A coordinating body will be established in order to effectively
organize this work,” she added.

According to earlier reports, a family of six, including a two year
old child, were murdered in Gyumri, northern Armenia, on January 12.

The only survivor, six month old Sergei Avetisyan, was hospitalized
with a stab wound. He died on January 19.

Valery Permyakov, a serviceman from Russia’s 102nd military base,
who is deployed in Gyumri, was detained shortly after the attack. He
is now on the territory of the military base. Criminal charges were
brought against him on January 14 based on the Russian and Armenian
Criminal Codes.

On January 15, protests broke out in Gyumri. Their participants
demanded that Permyakov be handed over to the Armenian justice system.

Fourteen people, including five policemen, were hospitalized after
clashes between the demonstrators and police.

On January 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to again extend his condolences to the
victims’ relatives and all people of Armenia in regard of the tragedy
in Gyumri.

tm mk

ARMENIANS MOURN FAMILY SLAIN BY RUSSIAN SOLDIER

Yahoo! News
Jan 21 2015

People gathered at Freedom Square in Yerevan, Armenia, on January
20 to light candles and leave gifts in memory of the seven members
of a family allegedly killed by a Russian soldier on January 12. Six
family members, including a two-year-old boy, were murdered in their
home in Gyumri, Armenia’s second-largest city and host to a Russian
military base.

A six-month-old baby, who was the sole survivor of the attack, later
died on January 19, according to the BBC.

The event triggered questions in Armenia about the country’s
relationship with Russia. Tensions flared on January 15 when angry
protesters clashed with police outside the Russian consulate in Gyumri
following the funeral of the family. Protesters demanded that the
suspect, who was being held at the Russian military base in Gyumri,
be handed over to Armenian authorities. A January 20 report by Radio
Free Europe said the trial was expected to be conducted by a Russian
military court on Armenian soil.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 20 2015

Assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist commemorated in Yerevan

Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Ä°stanbul-based Agos newspaper
who was assassinated outside of his office on Jan. 19, 2007, was
commemorated at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in Yerevan on the
eighth anniversary of his murder.

Approximately 25 participants met at the Tsitsernakaberd, dedicated to
the memory of Anatolian Armenians killed during World War I, just a
little outside of central Yerevan at 5 p.m. on Monday. The group was
mostly made up of activists, artists, scholars and writers from all
over Armenia, as well as diaspora Armenians from France, Lebanon and
the US. After gathering at the complex, they walked in a silent march
toward the opera house in the heart of Yerevan.

While Dink was commemorated in Yerevan before, in 2011 and 2013, those
events were performance-based, in places such as the Yerevan Chamber
Music Hall. This year’s commemoration event was unique in that it
included a march and a moment of silence in memory of Dink.

Speaking with Today’s Zaman, one of the event’s organizers, Suzan
Meryem Rosita Aljadeeah, said: `Hrant Dink has inspired a breaking of
silence and I think he is a symbol of peace. Today, this walk is a
very peaceful walk. I am not walking to make a political statement but
walking in memory of him and in prayer.’

A genocide scholar with German and Turkish origins, Aljadeeah is a
historian and an artist currently based at Gallery 25-Modern Art
Gallery in Gyumri, Armenia. She is also taking part in the Hrant Dink
Foundation’s Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme that promotes
cross-border affiliations and the cooperation of professionals from
Armenia and Turkey.

Aljadeeah noted that she had an opportunity to meet Dink in person in
2004 when she was an undergraduate student of history at BoÄ?aziçi
University in Ä°stanbul. At the beginning of a presentation on what she
called the Armenian genocide, she was silenced by her professors and
classmates. Through political activist groups that she was part of,
Aljadeeah met Dink at his office. `I was moved by his resilience and
his calm character. It didn’t surprise him at all that I was
silenced,’ Aljadeeah told Today’s Zaman. That day, Aljadeeah learned
from Dink that strength did not come from being aggressive but from
being strong within and continuing to make progress in a resilient
way.

Dink was best known for his willingness to critically debate the
issues of Armenian identity and the official versions of history in
Turkey related to the massacres of Armenians in 1915. He was
prosecuted for expressing his opinions and later shot and killed by an
ultra-nationalist teenager, hit man Ogün Samast. In September 2010,
the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled against Turkey for
not preventing the murder of the journalist and not carrying out an
effective investigation afterwards. A renewed court process started in
September of last year, but many remain critical of efforts to bring
to account high-level public officials who were involved in Dink’s
assassination.

Azerbaijan still not allowing Red Cross to see Armenian captive

00:26, 20.01.2015

YEREVAN. – The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)
representatives have not yet been permitted to see Armenian captive
Arsen Baghdasaryan, who is held in Azerbaijan.

ICRC Yerevan Office Communications Officer Zara Amatuni told about the
aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The Azerbaijani side does not allow the ICRC to meet with the Armenian
captive for already more than three weeks now, and no information is
given on the reasons for this refusal.

Arsen Baghdasaryan, an ex-conscript of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Defense Army, was taken into Azerbaijan captivity on December 26 of
the year past. The now ex-soldier had stood out by his disorderly
conduct during military service, and this had led to the filing of a
criminal lawsuit against him. And as a result, Baghdasaryan had fled
to Azerbaijan to escape trial.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Jan 20 2015

PM remembers Armenian journalist, reiterates fixing relations with Armenia

DAILY SABAH
ISTANBUL

Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu has issued a press statement for the
eighth anniversary of the death of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
and expressed his condolences while praising Dink’s contributions to
Turkey.

“Dink was an Anatolian intellectual who sought ways to build a common
future for Turks and Armenians without sacrificing his Armenian
identity and loyalty to Turkey” the statement read, praising his
contribution to the relations between Turks and Armenians.

Referring to then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an’s condolence
letter issued in April 2014, DavutoÄ?lu stated that Turkey is trying to
take concrete steps to improve the stalled relations with Armenia and
“overcome past traumas.”

DavutoÄ?lu also noted that it is possible for both nations to resolve
their problems through dialogue as they have shared the same geography
for a long period. “With this in mind, we invite our Armenian friends
to visit Turkey in order to get rid of prejudice and bias” he said.

It was noted that Turkey will continue to protect all Armenian figures
who have contributed to the country and its history, and mentioned
that Turkey is sincere in its intentions of establishing friendly
relations and permanent peace with Armenia.

The Moscow Times, Russia
Jan 20 2015

Russian Soldier to Stand Trial for Murder of Family in Armenia

The Moscow Times

The head of Russia’s Investigative Committee said the high-profile
trial of a Russian soldier accused of massacring an Armenian family
will be held in Armenia, news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.

The suspect in the killings, Valery Permyakov, was detained by Russian
authorities last week while trying to enter Turkey. He has confessed
to killing seven members of a family, including a baby and a toddler,
in the Armenian city of Gyumri near where he was stationed at a
Russian military base. The motive remains unclear.

The killings sparked mass protests in the city last week, with several
demonstrators injured and detained after gathering near the Russian
military base to demand that Permyakov be brought to justice by
Armenian courts.

Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, said from
Yerevan on Tuesday that Armenian and Russian police would work
together on Permyakov’s trial.

“The public trial in Armenia will be testament to the commitment of
both sides to justice and a fair trial,” Bastrykin was cited as saying
by RIA Novosti.

The investigation into the incident will be conducted jointly by
Russia and Armenia, Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia’s
Investigative Committee, said in an online statement Tuesday.

Armenian investigators who questioned Permyakov after his detention
said the Jan. 12 killings were committed with an AK-47 assault rifle.
Permyakov said during questioning that he’d stopped at the family’s
home because he was thirsty, Russian media reported.

Liverpool City Champion, Australia
Jan 20 2015

Novel tackles teen pressures in south west Sydney

By Kirstie Chlopicki
Jan. 20, 2015, 11:30 p.m.

OBESITY, body image and bullying are some issues that will be covered…

Local fiction: Tamar Chnorhokian’s new novel, The Diet Starts On
Monday, is set in Liverpool and Wetherill Park. Picture: Simon Bennett

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OBESITY, body image and bullying are some issues that will be covered
in a new novel published for young adults by Bossley Park resident
Tamar Chnorhokian.

The Armenian-Australian writer grew up in south-west Sydney and her
fiction book The Diet Starts on Monday is set in multi-cultural
Fairfield.

“It’s about an obese teenage girl in her last year of school who
decides to lose weight to win the boy of her dreams,” she said.

The first-time author said she struggled with weight and self-esteem
issues in high school and wanted to send a positive message to teens
who are feeling the pressure to lose the kilos — even if they’re
already size 10.

“I always wanted to write about that struggle.

“As I got older I realised it doesn’t end — it relates to everybody.”

Ms Chnorhokian said with teens exposed to a constant stream of ideal
and unrealistic images from the media, it’s hard for both males and
females to live up to expectations.

“That’s all that they see, pushed into their faces every day.

“They’re conditioned to think that’s what they should look like, but
my book challenges that.

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“There’s more to life then just looks, there are people who will
accept you for who you are.”

The novel combines a strong message on body image with multi-cultural
elements, including Armenian, Italian, Lebanese and Assyrian
characters, with references to locations in Fairfield and Liverpool.

“Representations of western Sydney are mostly negative,” she said.

“There are no books that show Fairfield in a positive light, but I had
a good experience growing up here.

“It’s important for people to identify with places that they know in a
good way.”

The novel is published by the Sweatshop Western Sydney Literary
Movement, which encourages those from diverse backgrounds to tell
their story.

Armenian National Committee of Canada
130 Albert St., Suite 1007
Ottawa, ON KIP 5G4
Tel: 613-235-2622
Fax: 613-238-2622
E-mail: [email protected]

Jan. 19, 2015

?Je Suis Hrant Je Suis Charlie?
Armenians Across Canada Remember
Hrant Dink and Charlie Hebdo Journalists

Ottawa, Ontario – Holding signs saying ?Je Suis Hrant Je Suis
Charlie?, Armenian communities across Canada held events this weekend
defending freedom of expression and freedom of the press by
remembering martyred journalists of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo
as well as Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, assassinated eight
years ago on January 19, 2007. Dink, a journalist and editor-in-chief
of Agos, a bilingual newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey was shot
outside his newspaper?s offices by Turkish ultra-nationalist youth.

Armenian National Committee of Canada President, Dr. Girair Basmadjian
said ?Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had no place in Paris
marching beside other world leaders who champion freedom of expression
and press freedom. Turkey remains the world?s greatest offender
against freedom of expression.?

Dr. Basmadjian added, ?Charlie Hebdo cartoonists would have long ago
been arrested under current Turkish law. In contrast to France?s
swift actions to dismantle the terrorist networks responsible for the
Charlie Hebdo massacre, the conspirators behind the assassination of
Hrant Dink remain free to this day. If Turkey cares about freedom of
expression, it must repeal Article 301, protect the rights of its
minority peoples to speak the truth and bring Hrant Dink?s killers to
justice.?

Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent and staunch advocate of
dialogue between Armenians and Turks as well as the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by Turkey was prosecuted and convicted under Article
301 of the Turkish penal code, and his life was constantly under
threat by Turkish ultra-nationalists. Despite knowing that Dink was
the subject of numerous threats, Turkish authorities did nothing to
protect him and some were even involved in the plot that ultimately
took his life.

Article 301 of Turkish penal code, which came into effect in 2005,
makes it illegal to ?insult? Turkey, Turkish ethnicity, or Turkish
governmental institutions. It is one of the most extreme measures
supported by the Turkish government to oppose freedom of speech
especially regarding the issue of the Armenian Genocide.

Unfortunately, eight years later, the Republic of Turkey has done
nothing to bring the true perpetrators of Dink?s assassination to
justice. As well, Turkey still remains one of the world?s worst
offenders when it comes to imprisoning journalists. In 2014, Turkey
passed new laws allowing it to control all social media. Last March,
both YouTube and Twitter were blocked in Turkey despite international
protests, including by the Canadian government. Therefore, it is
ironic that Prime Minister Davutoglu would stand with world leaders in
Paris to condemn the recent attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

Dr. Basmadjian concluded by stating that ?The ANCC stands with all
free-thinking people in condemning any attempt to violently restrict
freedom of expression. When extremists use guns to prevent us from
speaking freely, we must all make our voices heard. Je suis Hrant, je
suis Charlie.?

Contact: R. Roupen Kouyoumdjian (514) 265-4602

USA
Volunteer Armenia Expo le 28 février

L’Armenian Cultural Foundation sera l’hôte toute une journée de
l’exposition des bénévoles Arménie au Centre arménien à Montebello
samedi 28 février, afin de promouvoir les volontaires, les ONG et
d’étudier les possibilités à l’étranger en Arménie, en Artsakh et au
Djavakhk, et de renforcer les liens entre la patrie et de la diaspora.

Certaines des organisations participantes comprennent TUMO, United
Nations Armenia, Armenian Land and Culture, American University of
Armenia, Armenia Tree Project, Armenia Volunteer Corps, Armenian
General Benevolent Union, AYF Youth Corps, Birthright Armenia,
Armenian Relief Society, Paros Foundation, Entanik, Habitat for
Humanity, Orran, Nor Luyce Mentoring Center, et Zartonk-89.

lundi 19 janvier 2015,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (+961- 4) 410001, 410003
Fax: (+961- 4) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

The Representative of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Meets with His
Holiness Aram I

Antelias – 10 January 2015. On Saturday morning, Metropolitan George
Saliba of Mount Lebanon, of the Syriac Orthodox Church, met with
Catholicos Aram I to convey His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II’s
Christmas and New Year greetings. The Metropolitan also informed His
Holiness Aram I of the activities they are planning to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the massacres of their people by the Ottomans.

On the same day, Catholicos Aram I, also in his capacity as a President
of the Middle East Council of Churches, received Bishop Atallah the
chairperson of Prayers Christian Unity; they discussed the programme for
the week.

Prime Minister Tamam Salam Meets with His Holiness Aram I

Antelias – 17 January 2015. On Saturday evening Prime Minister of
Lebanon Tamam Salam came to meet with His Holiness Aram I in Antelias.
During the one-hour meeting, they discussed the conflict in the region,
the situation in the country and issues connected with the Lebanese
presidential election.

His Holiness Aram I Receives Former President of Lebanon Amine Gemayel

Antelias – 16 January 2015. On Friday morning, former President Amine
Gemayel met with His Holiness Aram I in his office in Antelias. They
discussed the presidential election, the current situation in the region
and the state of Christian communities.

# #

Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
PO Box : 70 317 Antelias – LEBANON
Tel: (+961-4) 410 001 / 3
Fax: (+961-4) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]