Author: Babajanian Karo

U.S. VALUES TURKISH, FRENCH RELATIONS

United Press International UPI
Jan 25 2012

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) — Washington is an ally to both the Turkish
and French governments and wants their relationship to remain on
solid ground, a U.S. State Department official said.

A bill that criminalizes denial of the World War I Armenian genocide
awaits the signature of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It would
impose a sentence of a year in prison and a fine of more than $58,000
on those who deny any officially recognized genocide.

The Turkish government reacted swiftly to the decision. Officials in
Ankara described the measure as “racist.”

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said both
governments were important allies of the United States but the matter
was largely a bilateral issue.

“Frankly, this is a matter between Turkey and France, and we want to
see good relations between them,” she said. “They are both allies of
the United States and that’s our message to both sides.”

Turkey in December suspended diplomatic and military ties with the
French government. Turkish law prohibits descriptions of the Armenian
killings as genocide. The Turkish government admits to atrocities
but disputes the use of the term genocide.

FRENCH ‘GENOCIDE’ LAW INFURIATES TURKEY

Aljazeera

Jan 25 2012
Qatar

A new French law recognising the mass killing of Armenians as a
genocide further strains ties between Ankara and Paris.

Relations between France and Turkey have reached breaking point after
the French senate approved a bill that outlaws denying that the mass
killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 constituted genocide.

Turkey, which sees such allegations as a threat to its national
honour, has already suspended military, economic and political ties
with France.

It has also said it will bring sanctions against France over the law,
although the nature of those sanctions remains unclear.

However, according the the AFP news agency, trade between the two
countries was worth $15.5bn in 2010, with a significant number of
French firms operating in Turkey, which also has a number of defence
contracts with France, including a purchase order for air defence
missiles.

A report submitted to the French parliament indicates France sold
more than $260m in weapons to Turkey between 2006 and 2010,

Helen Drake, senior lecturer in French and European Studies at UK’s
Loughborough University, said: “The response [from Turkey] will be
rhetorically robust, but diplomacy behind the scenes will continue
as usual.”

She added that while Turkey is an important ally to France, it is
neither a top trading partner nor “a friend as such, so relations
will remain tense”.

Turkey’s foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday, saying the
law should not be finalised to “avoid this being recorded as part of
France’s political, legal and moral mistakes”.

Meanwhile, critics have called the move a ploy by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy to garner votes from about 500,000 Armenians in
upcoming spring elections.

French ‘dictation’

Armenia says that planned massacres and deportations left more than 1.5
million of its people dead between 1915 and 1923, while Turkey disputes
those figures, officially stating the number to be closer to 500,000.

It also vehemently rejects that Armenians were killed as a means
of ethnic cleansing, maintaining that the casualties occurred as a
result of the Russian invasion and World War I.

“No Turk I have come across objects that there occurred Armenian
massacres during the First World War,” said Birol Baskan, a visiting
professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service
in Qatar.

“They object to naming the massacres as a genocide. I do not see that
they are going to succumb to any dictation of any sort to describe
the massacres as a genocide in the future.

“So, what might France’s move change? Basically, nothing. It just
further angered the Turks – that’s all.”

The genocide bill is only the latest issue to hit the already damaged
relationship between teh two nations.

“Turkey sees France as a trouble maker in the Middle East,” said
Baskan.

“This became so clear in the Libyan crisis. Erdogan implicitly
accusedFrance of caring just about oil and escalating the crisis
in Libya.

“Also there is the Sarkozy factor – he is obviously against Turkey’s
accession to the EU and undiplomatically expresses his opposition.”

Baskan added that Turkey’s response to France has been “long in the
making” and “just waiting for the right moment to explode.

There have been numerous snubs, including the fact that Sarkzoy has
visited Turkey only once during his presidency, staying onlyfor a
few hours.

Drake says Paris’ stance is not based on Islamophobia “but to do with
French ambitions in, and for, the EU” – to increase the influence of
France in the EU and to lessen Turkey’s influence in the region.

Political ping-pong

The International Association of Genocide Scholars has recognised
the mass killing of Armenians as a genocide since 1997, condemning
the Turkish government’s denial.

While France is in the process of criminalising the denial of genocide,
Turkey has long punished those who acknowledge the killings as a
genocide, jailing many activists and academics.

In 2007, a Turkish court dismissed any link between the state, or any
nationalist movement, and the 2007 murder of Armenian rights activist
and journalist Hrant Dink.

The editor of a Turkish Armenian newspaper, Dink wrote about the
Armenian genocide and was charged repeatedly under a Turkish law
banning “insults to Turkishness”.

He was shot on a street in Istanbul by a young man who claimed to
have been offended by Dink’s work.

Domestic consumption

Critics say both Sarkozy and Erdogan are taking a hardline over the
genocide question with a view to gaining support at home.

Halil Karaveli, a Turkey analyst and a senior fellow at the Central
Asia-Caucasus Institute, said: “This way of handling historical
matters, using them as political material like that, is very
inappropriate, and it’s also very apparent that the French President
Sarkzoy, is making an investment in his elections campaign.

“Witness” documents the story of Armenian survivors.

“Something that is against Turkey will pay off in France because it
caters to emotions or currents in France that aren’t particularly
appealing.”

Karaveli also points out that a strong, nationalistic response from
Erdogan is also sure to “pay off, politically”.

Erdogan called the impending French law “a racist and discriminatory
approach and if you cannot see this, then you are deaf to the footsteps
of fascism in Europe.”

In addition to forcing nationalist parties in each country to get
further locked into their entrenched positions, Karaveli said the
biggest issue with this political game is that the very point of them
is lost.

“What happens is that you lose sight of the issue – what happened
to the Armenians and the need for Turkey to address that historical
tragedy,” said Karaveli.

Denial ‘an insult’

Alexis Govciyan, the president of the National Council of Armenians
in France, welcomes the law, saying that it took a lot of effort to
counter Turkish pressures against the measure.

“Of course, this not a law against Turkish people. In the civil
society there are a lot of good people dealing with this issue –
the only problem we have is that the Turkish government has taken a
position of denial against the Armenian genocide,” said Govciyan.

“We think it’s really insulting to us – the Armenian people and the
Armenian identity – when we see the attitude of the Turkish government.

“When you have this in your history, in your memory, when you still
have a country or government telling you it was not [a genocide] …

you have to put yourself in the place of these people who experienced
a crime against humanity.”

Govciyan does not think that the new law will worsen the situation
for the 50,000 or so Armenians currently living in Turkey, where
Armenian rights activists, intellectuals, and even the journalists
who write about them, are often arrested.

A recent high-profile case is that of publisher Ragip Zaraklou, who
was arrested after publishing controversial books, including several
Armenian titles, including ones on the topic of the genocide.

Zaraklou was tried and jailed under the country’s anti-terrorism laws.

Still, Govciyan said that the point of the law is not to vilify the
Turkish people – in fact, he feels that if the government were to label
the killings as a genocide, Turkish people might be able to move on.

“Turkish people, today, it’s not their fault what happened in 1915. So
if the government recognises this [genocide] it would also be very
helpful for the Turkish people.”

This, however, seems unlikely to happen.

The US flip-flop

France is not the only country to incur Turkish wrath over recognising
the mass killing of Armenians as genocide.

President George W Bush told the House Foreign Affairs Committee
in 2007 that any such bills’ “passage would do great harm to our
relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror”.

The US has come close to passing similar resolutions several times in
the past, only to back away from the brink following high-pressure
campaigns from the Turkish lobby, and members of Congress, who felt
that passing such a bill would compromise national security interests.

At that time, US military cargo passed through Turkey which had
threatened to attack Iraqi Kurds, causing further instability in Iraq.

During his presidential campaign, US President Barack Obama said that:
“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
genocide”, but once in office, his administration opposed a resolution
to recognise the killings as genocide in 2010.

According to records kept by the Washington-based International
Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, as of May 2011, 43 US states
recognised the Armenian genocide, with Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi,
Iowa, Wyoming, South Dakota and West Virginia being the hold-outs.

More than 20 countries around the world recognise what was done to the
Armenians as genocide, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden,
Germany and Switzerland, although they have not made the denial of
a genocide a crime.

The Iran exception

Despite Turkey saying it would join a recent EU oil embargo against
Iran (while criticising the bloc’s decision to implement the ban in
the first place), Ankara enjoys relatively decent diplomatic ties
with its neighbour to the north.

This is particularly odd given that so many Armenians escaped to Iran,
where they built the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial on the
grounds of the iconic Vank Cathedral in Isafan.

And Turkey, for its part, has strengthened its ties with NATO,
allowing for an anti-missile shield within its borders.

Indeed, Karaveli insists that the dust-up with France will in no way
compromise Turkey’s geopolitical strength in the region, and said the
relationship between Turkey and Iran has long been a complicated one
of rivals and allies.

But Iran is not the only country in the region that manages to avoid
raising Turkish ire on the topic.

“For that matter, the Arabs by and large also describe the massacres
as a genocide, but neither the Arab nor Iranian stance seem to be
disturbing for the Turks,” said Baskan.

“Two factors might explain this. First, as long as an official
declaration is not issued by Iran and Arab states, that’s OK for
the Turks.

“Second, the European or American declaration particularly angers
the Turks, for the Turks generally believe that the Europeans and
Americans have committed much worse crimes in the past, but they
forget those crimes [and] do not let anyone talk about them.

“But [the French] turn the attention to what the others have done.”

It is doubtful that Turkey will grant France an exemption any time
soon, and France appears to have dug in its heels on the issue.

“POLITICS BEHIND FRENCH GENOCIDE BILL”

Press TV
Jan 25 2012
Iran

Interview with Jahangir Mohammed, writer and activist

Turkey has condemned the approval of a bill that makes it illegal
to deny the act of genocide against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
during World War 1.

In addition, Ankara has also said it could consider imposing permanent
sanctions on France.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jahangir Mohammed, a writer
and activist in Manchester, to further discuss the issue.

The video offers the opinions of two additional guests: Paolo Raffone,
with the CIPI Foundation in Brussels and Oguz Demir an EU expert from
Istanbul Commerce University.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Let me bring a quotation from a newspaper in Turkey, Mr.

Mohammed. It does tell us that, “If France really wants to help
Turkey face her past, it needs to face up to her own past”, and this
writer is telling us that the decision is a political decision and
it is misdirected.

What could be the political reasons for this decision in your view?

Mohammed: Well, I think you have highlighted quite accurately the
problem with the whole labeling of others as committing genocide,
which is the politicalization of genocide.

And in this case there is a direct political motive, I believe.

The French have been the most opposed to Turkish membership of the
European Union, saying quite strongly, that there are different
religious and cultural values. And Europe shouldn’t allow Turkey
membership of the EU, whereas some other countries like Britain and
the United States also have been quite positive on the issue.

So I think there is a clear political motive behind what the French
are doing, the charge of genocide.

And in this case actually, it’s not just denying people the chance
to debate or disagree with the Armenian genocide, but it also stops
them from minimalizing it.

So even if you dispute the numbers that the French are arguing who
were actually killed in the Armenian massacres, then you are liable
to be fined and imprisoned.

So effectively, it is imposing a French and a European view of Turkish
history on the Turks themselves. And really, it’s on a matter which
isn’t really a French affair.

And it also puts Muslims in France and particularly Turkish Muslims
in a difficult situation. Because many of them hold a different view
of what happened.

And now that in itself will become illegal and they will become
criminalized as a result of that, if they discuss, debate or even
dispute the figures.

Press TV: A lot has been said of course about the reasons why France
is taking this move. Of course, it was clear for France that this
is going to hurt Turkey politically, and that Istanbul would not be
satisfied with this.

So do you think some of this measure has something to do with issues
of contentions between the two sides, when it comes to foreign policy,
regional policy and even the EU membership bid of Turkey?

Mohammed: Yeah absolutely, I think the French will use this Turkish
non-acceptance of the French view, as a precursor to stop them
permanently entering into the EU at the appropriate time.

And we’ve seen this happen before with genocide. We saw it with Omar
Bashir, the Sudanese president has been indicted for crimes against
humanity, for committing genocide in Sudan when it hasn’t yet been
established.

And the sole purpose of that was for him to give up the south to the
Animists and the Christians, which he’s done.

So, there’s clearly a political motive behind this which will emerge.

And under wider issue, I think the Turkish people have raised a very
important issue; the Genocide Convention only came into being in 1948.

How far do you go back with crimes of genocide?

You know, this is a hundred year old issue. If you can go back a
hundred years, why not further back?

Why not charge Western powers of crimes of genocide to do with the
slave trade, to do with the elimination of the Native Americans,
the Indians in South America, the Aborigines?

And you know, other crimes against other people, which are you know,
like the Algerian War of Independence, which might not be against a
particular race, but which was a major atrocity.

So how far do you go back with these is the question. And, you know,
why only some countries are charged with this label and not others?

And the real problem is that, you know, whilst we are talking about
freedom of opinion, stopping people talking about these issues, crimes
of humanity are going on every day, committed by Western powers in
Afghanistan, with the drone attacks, with Iraq.

HEADS OF RURAL COMMUNITIES WARNED AGAINST TRYING TO SELL FERTILIZERS AT HIGH PRICES

/ARKA/
January 26, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, January 26. /ARKA/. Armenia’s ministry of agriculture warned
heads of rural communities against trying to sell a 50 kg sack of
fertilizer to farmers at more than 6,000 Drams, saying the raised
money should be transferred to supplier companies. In a statement
the ministry said transportation of sacks is free fro farmers. The
distribution of fertilizers at the mentioned price is part of a
government-supported program to help farmers obtain fertilizers at
affordable prices.

“The process of transportation of fertilizers and their delivery
to communities is organized by the government with the assistance of
provincial governor’s offices. Community leaders must ensure unloading,
warehousing and fair distribution,” the statement says.The ministry
has set up a task force to supervise the process steered by a deputy
minister Samvel Galstyan. The ministry said if farmers see any breach
of this order they may call at the hotline (37 410) 54 19 68.

The State Commission for Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC)
ruled Tuesday to fine Katherine Group in the amount of 10 million
drams for the abuse of its dominant position in the market of
fertilizers. The SCPEC had conducted a monitoring finding out that
Katherine Group sold a sack of fertilizer at 8,000 drams, by one
thousand drams more than the market value.

In 2011 Armenia experienced an artificially created shortage of
fertilizers. In spring retail price of a sack was 7,100-7,200 drams
climbing to 11,000 and even 15,000 in summer.

Today, Armenia imports annually approximately 30,000 tons of
nitrogenous fertilizers mainly from Georgia, Russia and Iran.

BRITISH PM DISAPPOINTS TURKISH DELEGATE

ARMENPRESS
14:52, 26 January, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 26, ARMENPRESS: Prime Minister of Great Britain David
Cameron refused to comment on the adoption of the bill penalizing
the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Senate of France. Naira
Zohrabyan, member of Armenia’s delegation to PACE, told Armenpress
from Strasburg that the British PM was asked to comment on it by a
Turkish delegate. “But he received quite an unexpected answer for him.

The Turkish delegate was expected that Cameron would describe it as
unacceptable but the answer was not so,” Zohrabyan said.

Cameron also refused to assess the decision of the France’s Senate,
but stressed that it is clear for all what happened with Armenians
in 1915. British PM noted that it was a great tragedy and must not be
left in silence. “Though he said afterwards that Turkey is important
partner for them, and he thinks it must become member of the EU,”
Zohrabyan said.

AZAD ISAZADE:AZERBAIJAN WILL NOT HAVE DECISIVE SUPERIORITY OVER ARMENIA WITHIN THE COMING DECADES
by David Stepanyan

Arminfo
Thursday, January 26, 15:53

Interview of military psychologist Azad Isazade (Baku) with ArmInfo
news agency

When analyzing the course of the Karabakh settlement, one has got an
impression that everything is developing according to the scenario
of the Palestine-Israeli conflict. What true instruments for the
Karabakh conflict settlement we have today, except the war? Do they
have chances to be used successfully?

Everything in the Karabakh conflict’s resolution follows the scenario
of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict so far. There is neither military
nor political resolution of the conflict. The resolution is in the
military-political field, which, however, does not mean resumption
of military actions. There are forms of military actions that do
not imply armed conflicts. Various maneuvers, exercises, parades are
demonstration of force and one of the forms of the intensive military
activity in the military-diplomatic field. For instance, Azerbaijan
has raised the issue of restoration of the Iranian-Azerbaijani border,
which is partly not under its control. He said it is an example
of such diplomacy. It does not require attacking the civilians
residing in Stepanakert. It will be enough launching negotiations as
an alternative to the armed conflict.

Hence, it is necessary to rule out resumption of the military conflict,
first of all, and there are already certain premises for that. I am
sure that in spite of its desire to unleash military actions Azerbaijan
cannot do that at least before May 2012 when Eurovision Song Contest
will be held in Baku.

We are not China where the Olympic Games were not boycotted despite
the developments in Tibet. In case of poor judgment, Eurovision will
remain a dream for Baku. It is not a joke, but reality. Such arguments
can be found both in Russia and the West.

May the changing of the balance between the parties to the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict result in the new war?

Actually, today Azerbaijan has certain economic and military-technical
superiority over Armenia. Nevertheless, we are well aware that
without possible interference by third countries and other factors,
the Azerbaijani Armed Forces should prevail the defending Armenians
at least five-fold.

In conditions of such mountainous area as Karabakh, the offensive side
needs 7-8-fold superiority, whereas Azerbaijan has just certain weapon
superiority over Armenia at present. Armenia prevails over Azerbaijan
with some other types of weapons. However, Azerbaijan will not have
decisive superiority over Armenia within the coming decades.

In this light, Azerbaijan has only one way – a blitzkrieg, which
will not make it possible for Azerbaijan to settle the issue
finally. For instance, Azerbaijan can invade Aghdam, or Armenia can
block Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. But such kind of operation
will not lead the parties to final resolution of the conflict. It
will just lead the conflict to the more intensive phase.

How can you explain the main reasons of servicemen death in the
Armenian and Azerbaijani armies?

Deaths from the enemy shells on the line of contact are a small
percentage of the deaths in the Azerbaijani army. There are also
other non-combat related deaths: diseases, humiliating treatment of
juniors, suicides.

Both the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies are ‘fragments’ of the Soviet
army with all its benefits and implications. Despite all the talks
on reforms, the officer corps in both the armies is the same.

Tactical instructions and regulations are still the same. Military
hazing is the result of unsatisfactory work of the officer corps
with the manpower. An officer must not transfer his direct duty
to the senior conscripts. This is what leads to non-combat related
incidents. But officer do not care for that. Both in Armenia and
Azerbaijan, he said, there are army units where “dedovshina” (military
hazing) is not so critical. Referring to the Armenian officers he
met at various forums. The situation in Armenia is different. The
military hazing in Azerbaijan is critical and sometimes results in
deaths, while in Armenia there is certain second hierarchy of senior
conscripts. There are “supervisors” in the army units and the officer
corps has been quite successfully fighting this phenomena for several
years. It is very important, for in case of an armed conflict, such
double hierarchy may have unpredictable results.

The leadership of Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh reiterated many times
about their readiness to withdraw snipers from the line of contact,
but Baku does not share such readiness. What is the reason of it? And
what is the core of senseless death of young people from both parties?

The withdrawal of Armenian and Azerbaijani snipers from the line of
contact is not the best way out from the created situation. In our
armies snipers are chiefly soldiers of the involuntary service. For
this reason for withdrawal of snipers we shall be forced to change
the whole staff structure of the Armed Forces. I think that a sniper
has no right to shoot without the order. In this case, either defence
ministers of both states do not so much own the situation at the
line of contact, as their order not to fire is ignored, or they give
another secret order to fire. I think that to stop the sniper war not
the withdrawal of snipers is necessary but a strict order of defence
ministers to stop fire. The expert thinks that even if snipers stop
firing, the bigger skirmish among intelligence officers and sabotage
groups will often happen.

Defence ministers and commanders of the general headquarters are
directly linked with each other, and if desired, they could think
over the conditions of the specific ceasefire. Every sniper’s bullet
increases the possibility of the relevant asymmetric respond of the
enemy, and raises the possibility of a large-scale war starting.

That is to say, this bullet may become the last drop after which the
situation will be out of control. For this reason, not the snipers
should be removed but the separation line of the confronting forces
enlarged.

The position of the Armenian parties to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
is in making compromise based on an accord to yield several regions in
return to recognize independence of Nagornyy Karabakh by the official
Baku. But such an offer is not accepted by those which are guided by
the principle everything or nothing”…

At present the Armenian party offers to discuss the destiny of 5
regions, but Azerbaijan demand all 7. The recognition of independence
of Nagornyy Karabakh is not a compromise of Azerbaijan but just
recognition of the present status-quo. In return, Azerbaijan offers
an option of a wider autonomy, of which they did not even want to
listen to in Stepanakert.

By the way, there is no point about autonomy in the Constitution
of Azerbaijan…

The present status-quo of the NKR is preserved thanks to the interests
of certain force centers, but it will change after changing of
their priorities. If such changes happen in Russia and Turkey, after
which Armenia and Azerbaijan will feel their force, the status-quo
will also change. Actually, we understand that today the status-quo
suits everybody, but it will end sooner or later. Till 1988 Nagornyy
Karabakh was like an autonomy within Azerbaijan, that is to say, it
was also status-quo, which suited nobody than. And that status-quo
broke in 70 years of existence.

One should look for other alternatives. As Armenians do not admit the
talks about autonomy, and the talks about independence of Karabakh
are inadmissible for Azerbaijanis, other options for settlement should
be drawn out, based on the economic development of both states. Today
citizens of Armenia and Azerbaijan simply resolve this problem leaving
for Russia to try to earn a fast buck. Only in case of searching and
fulfilling of joint economic projects without mutual demands about
recognition of territorial integrity and independence, we shall
be able to come to the mutually acceptable option of the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict settlement in future.

TURKISH AGRICULTURE GROUP BOYCOTTS FRENCH PRODUCTS .

Middle East Monitor

Jan 26 2012

Turkey’s Union of Agricultural Chambers has announced that its members
will begin a boycott of all French products after Paris approved a law
criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide. Media reports in Turkey
say that the boycott of French agricultural products forms part of
the sanctions the government in Ankara is starting to impose on France.

The head of the Agricultural Union, Samsi Bayraktar, said that his
group represents 5.4 million Turkish farmers; it has decided on the
boycott because the French decision on the Armenian issue disturbed
every Turkish citizen.

“The boycott,” said Bayraktar, “will deal a blow to cooperation
between Turkish and French agronomists at both the economic and
social levels.” He added that he looks forward to the reaction of
French farmers to the Turkish decision.

According to the Turkish Statistics Institute, in 2011, Turkey’s
exports to France reached $6.9 billion, with imports from France
being valued at $8.6 billion.

WHY AN ARMENIAN COUPLE IS NAMING THEIR BABY AFTER NICOLAS SARKOZY
By Giorgi Lomsadze

The Atlantic

Jan 26 2012

The two parents are really, really grateful for a French bill
criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide.

It’s a photo shoot on a grey January day, and Sarkozy, wrapped in
diapers and swaddled in blankets, is happily snoozing away. We are
not talking about the actual French President Nicolas Sarkozy here,
but, rather, his newborn namesake in faraway Armenia.

An Armenian couple has named their baby boy Sarkozy in gratitude to the
French president for backing a bill that criminalizes the assertion
that the World War I slaughter of ethnic Armenians in Ottoman-era
Turkey was not an act of genocide.

Little Sarkozy Avetisian weighs three kilos and is 50 centimeters
tall. You can see him in all his cuteness here. With an eye to ties
with France and voters (Armenia’s parliamentary elections are in May),
Armenia’s ruling Republican Party of Armenia joined the baby shower,
and donated $200 to the Avetisians.

But this is not the first instance of a French president inspiring
baby names in Armenia. In 2001, when France under President Jacques
Chirac recognized the Armenian killings as genocide, one grateful
couple called their newborn twins Jacques and Chirac.

Meanwhile, Turkey, which denies that any genocide was committed, is
quite literally slamming the French president in its rage over the
bill. An online game, “Slap Sarkozy,” has been released that allows
irate Turks (or anyone) to vent their anger at the legislation by
smacking the French leader silly.

This article originally appeared at EurasiaNet.org, an Atlantic
partner site.

OFFICIAL: ARMENIA TO HAVE PROFESSIONAL ARMY ONCE WAR CLOUDS LIFTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
January 26, 2012 – 14:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia will have professional army in future,
once the threat of war is thoroughly eliminated, the chairman of RA
National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defense, National Security
and Internal Affairs said.

“With no menace of war we shall have a 100% professional army, as
envisaged by the national security strategy of Armenia. Now, we must
call up draftees,” Hrayr Karapetyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

He noted that there already are military units in Armenia with soldiers
and sergeants serving by contract.

HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND LAUNCHES CONSTRUCTION OF KINDERGARTEN IN MARTUNI REGION’S SOS VILLAGE

hetq
11:39, January 26, 2012

The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund has begun construction of a kindergarten
in Sos, a village in Artsakh’s Martuni Region. The project is
co-sponsored by the fund’s French affiliate and the government
of Artsakh.

The future kindergarten will be a two-story structure designed to
accommodate up to 50 children. The first floor will comprise a locker
room, naprooms, restrooms, a kitchen, a laundry, and storage rooms;
the second floor will consist of playrooms, an events hall, and a gym.

The facility will also feature a sizeable playground. Currently crews
are laying the foundations of the kindergarten, which is slated to
open in Fall 2012.

In the meantime preschoolers in Sos will continue to attend the
community’s existing kindergarten, which was built in the 1970s. The
campus is in a state of serious disrepair and lacks some of the core
amenities required of a modern educational institution, among them
central heating and even a sewage-disposal system.

Due to the dilapidated condition of the old campus, some families
have opted altogether not to send their children to the kindergarten,
according to Sos mayor Igor Ghahramanyan.

Commenting on the construction of the future kindergarten, the mayor
reiterated his community’s great joy and anticipation, given the
imminent availability of a spacious and comfortable kindergarten
featuring state-of-the-art amenities.

Sos is the site of another major development project, the construction
of a critically needed potable-water network, which the Hayastan
All-Armenian Fund implemented in 2010 with the co-sponsorship of the
French-Armenian community and the government of Artsakh. Thanks to the
initiative, the residents of Sos have since enjoyed around-the-clock
access to water.

“Our hope is that such projects will vastly improve prospects of
economic and social development in thevillageofSos, which flanks
the main road to the Amaras Monastery complex,” said Ara Vardanyan,
executive director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. “In this respect,
our high praise goes to our French affiliate, for its consistent
support of preschool-building initiatives in Artsakh. One of these is
the soon-to-be-completed construction of a kindergarten in Drakhtik,
a village in the Hadrut Region.”

Sos, which traces its history to the 1700s, is home to 1,040
residents. The community’s main occupations are cattlebreeding and
winemaking. The local agricultural-machinery park, established in
recent years in Sos village, has gone a long way to improve farming
productivity, Ghahramanyan said.