Author: Babajanian Karo

ARMENIE
Poutine signe le traité d’adhésion de de l’Arménie à l’UEE

Le président russe Vladimir Poutine a apposé sa signature à une loi
qui permet à l’Arménie dedevenir un membre à part entière de l’Union
économique eurasienne (UEE) le 2 Janvier 2015.

Le document est déjà ratifié par les membres de l’Union, y compris le
Kazakhstan et la Biélorussie, stipule que l’Arménien rejoint le Traité
de l’UEE, ainsi que d’autres accords internationaux signés dans le
cadre de l’Union douanière.

Mardi, le président arménien Serge Sarkissian a participé à la réunion
du Conseil suprême économique eurasien avec les présidents de la
Russie, de la Biélorussie et du Kazakhstan. La réunion a porté sur les
aspects pratiques du lancement de l’UEE dès l’an prochain.

Dans son discours Serge Sarkissian a remercié les dirigeants des pays
membres de l’UEE pour leur soutien à l’Arménie.

Lors de la réunion, le Kirghizistan est devenu le cinquième pays à
signer le traité sur l’adhésion au groupement économique à partir du
1er mai.

mercredi 31 décembre 2014,
Stéphane (c)armenews.com

Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan’s New Year message

10:07, 31 Dec 2014

Dear compatriots,

2014 is nearing its end, and soon we will turn another page in our
history. At these last hours of the outgoing year, I wish to offer my
congratulations and best wishes to all the people of the Republic of
Armenia, Artsakh and Armenians worldwide. Let the year 2015 be one of
peace and creativity in our State.

The year 2014 was a difficult stage on the way to progress that we
were able to overcome without great shocks. Along with a multitude of
challenges, yet it was another step toward strengthened statehood,
toward a more powerful country and reforms in all aspects of our life.

Formed in May, 2014, the new government keeps focus on the citizens
and their needs. We realize that many problems still go unsolved. But
we have a clear-cut program and the necessary political will to cope
with them.

The government of Armenia will continue to take specific steps toward
economic development, improved business environment and reduced risks
caused by external factors. I am convinced that strong with President
Serzh Sargsyan’s leadership, through dedicated work and cooperative
effort, we will boast new achievements in 2015.

What we are doing today, first of all we do for the coming
generations, so that they could live in a peaceful, secure and
prosperous country where the national traditions are safeguarded and
new development targets are set. The personal aspirations of each of
are inseparable from Armenia, nurturing warm and sincere feelings
toward our homeland.

I do believe in our collective strength and I am sure that all our
national ideas and patriotic goals will come true through the trinity
of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, through our intellectual and
material potential.

Dear Compatriots,

On New Year’s Eve, I would like to emphasize the need for unity in
society and the whole nation. This is especially important on the eve
of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide as we are going to
once again commemorate our innocent victims demonstrating our
unwavering will to build the homeland of their dream.

Reiterating my Season’s greetings, I wish you, dear compatriots,
robust health, much happiness and prosperity. May peace be unbroken in
the Armenian world. May 2015 be a year of achievements and good deeds.

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas.

Long-Time ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Leader Vahan Hovannesyan Passes Away

December 29, 2014

Vahan Hovhannesyan, a long-time leader of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun and one of the country’s most prominent
post-Soviet politicians, died at the age of 58 early on Sunday,
December 28, 2014.

Hovhannesyan, who has also served as Armenia’s ambassador to Germany
over the past year, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Berlin where
he received treatment for cancer.

The Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun
announced the passing on of Vahan Hovhannesyan. The ARF-D Bureau, on
behalf of the large ARF-D family, offered its condolences to
Hovhannesyan’s family, relatives, comrades and the entire Armenian
Nation.

The Armenian government was quick to set up a special commission
tasked with organizing his state funeral. The commission headed by
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said on Monday that Hovhannesyan will
be laid to rest on January 3.

President Serzh Sargsyan on Monday offered his condolences to
Hovhannesyan’s family and paid tribute to the Dashnaktsutyun leader.
“It is with deep sadness that I learned about the passing of Vahan
Hovannesyan, the Republic of Armenia ambassador to the Federal
Republic of Germany,” said Sargsyan.

“Vahan Hovhannesyan’s presence was remarkable both on Armenia’s
political arena and during the years of the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh]
war and beyond,” added Sargsyan. “It is hard to imagine that his
character of an ideological warrior, an educated scholar, a statesman
and political figure, a brilliant orator and bright personality will
no longer be part of Armenian and pan-Armenian political processes.
Vahan Hovhannesyan’s death was a big loss for not only the
ARF-Dashnaktsutyun but also all of us,” concluded Sargsyan.

Mountainous Karabakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan also issued an
announcement praising Hovhannesyan’s many contributions to Artsakh’s
liberation and his commitment to ensure the security and longevity of
the Republic.

“Vahan Hovhannesyan’s contribution to the formation of the independent
Armenian state and the National Liberation Movement is invaluable. He
was a great patriot, prominent political figure, experienced diplomat,
a good and kind person who enjoyed great respect in Armenia, Artsakh
and the Diaspora,” said Sahakyan.

“The memory of Vahan Hovhannesyan will always remain bright in our
heart,” added Sahakyan after offering condolences to Hovhannesyan’s
family on behalf of the authorities and people of Artsakh.

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Galust
Sahakyan, also expressed his condolences. “I was greatly saddened by
the premature death of Vahan Hovhannesyan. Armenia lost a prominent
public and political figure, a broad-minded intellectual and a
professional diplomat. The loss of Vahan Hovhannesyan the human being,
the citizen and the colleague is a great loss for all those who knew
him. I express my condolences to Vahan Hovhannesyan’s family, comrades
and close ones and share their deep sorrow.”

Politicians from different parties also expressed their regrets for
Vahan Hovhannesyan’s passing.

Vahan Hovhannesyan was born on August 16, 1956 in Yerevan.

He graduated with degrees in history and archaeology from the Moscow
Pedagogical Institute in 1978 and received his PhD in history. From
1978-1980 he served in the Soviet army.

>From 1980 to 1989 he worked as a research assistant and later as a
head of the scientific research division in the Erebuni Museum. In
1989 he worked as a research assistant in the Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Soviet Armenia.

He joined the ARF in 1989. From 1990 to 1992 he was active in the
Artsakh liberation movement.

He was the ARF-D’s vice-presidential candidate for the 1991
Presidential Elections in Armenia.

>From 1990 to 1992 he was a member of the ARF-D Central Committee of
Armenia, becoming one of the first leaders of the organization in
Armenia when it resurfaced during the latter days of the Soviet Union.
In 1992 he became a member of the ARF-D Bureau. In 1995 he was
arrested after then president Levon Ter-Petrosyan started a campaign
of persecution against the ARF-D and shut down the party’s activities
in the homeland.

After Ter-Petrosyan’s resignation in 1998, Hovhannesyan served as
adviser to Armenia’s new president Robert Kocharian and headed the
Commission on issues of Local Self-Government until 1999.

In 1999, he was elected a member of Armenia’s Parliament, becoming
chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and National
Security and Internal Affairs, and served until 2003 in the ARF’s
parliamentary caucus.

On May 25, 2003 he was reelected by the proportional system from the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun and elected
Vice-President of the National Assembly on June 12.

He was also a member of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun Bureau.

On May 12, 2007 he was elected as a deputy of the National Assembly by
the proportional system from the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun. On June 7, 2007
he was elected Vice-President of the National Assembly.

He was the ARF’s candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election in Armenia.

In February 2013, at the Socialist International Council meeting in
Portugal, he was elected co-chair of the SI Committee for the CIS the
Caucasus and the Black Sea.

On Decemer 28, 2013, Hovannesyan was appointed as Armenia’s Ambassador
to Germany.

He is survived by his wife, two children and grandchild.

In a private conversation with an RFE/RL correspondent earlier this
month, Hovhannesyan spoke of his gratitude to Berlin-based Armenian
diplomats, government officials in Yerevan, fellow Dashnaktsutyun
members and friends. He said they have supported him throughout his
grave illness. The veteran politician also expressed regret at his
inability to complete initiatives relating to German-Armenian
relations and the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in
Ottoman Turkey to be marked in 2015.

Soccer: A Year to Forget for the Armenian National Team

By M.J. Graham on December 29, 2014

Special for the Armenian Weekly

In business, it is customary and good practice to complete a
comprehensive year-end assessment of team performance. This usually
includes providing high-quality, candid performance and development
feedback and working to set “S.M.A.R.T.” goals for the upcoming year
(i.e., specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound).
Once a close look has been taken at results and development over the
previous year, overall performance is generally ranked into broad
categories such as Distinguished, Commendable, Meets Expectations, and
Needs Improvement.

Performers at the high end of the scale get their rewards either on a
monetary level or with some sort of professional advancement in their
career. Performers at the other end of the spectrum are on the hot
seat and quite rightly put under the microscope in terms of finding
areas for improvement. Having won just one match in nine attempts in
2014, while also finishing the year languishing in the cellar of Euro
2016 qualifying Group I and slipping from 35 to 79 in the FIFA
rankings, one doesn’t need a keen eye or astute management speak to
assess Armenia’s results in 2014, although a new category may need to
be added at the low end of the scale: perhaps “Below Target,” defined
as a team not meeting performance expectations, having displayed some
good quality work but achieving inconsistent results.

Euro 2016 qualifying Group I results

But is that a fair assessment? Should it be that easy to write off a
year’s work as being below target based on results alone? After all,
the team went through a managerial change, a change of formation, and
countless injuries to key players. The complex game of soccer is loved
and celebrated throughout the world, but it is also analyzed and
dissected in equal measure by pundit and fan alike. So what other
factors can be considered in rating performances beyond results alone?
Is there some way to gauge whether a team deserved to win, lose, or
draw? Other statistics besides results can help paint a more
descriptive picture. Possession, chances made, shots on target,
corners, or even fouls can all be interpreted and manipulated to form
an opinion and come to some sort of conclusion. Whether that
conclusion is right or wrong is another thing. It is after all a game
of opinions.

The guys at OPTA, the highly touted sports data company, have an
interesting metric known as “Expected Goals.” They look at each shot
or opportunity in a match and, using sophisticated modeling, determine
the likelihood of that shot or opportunity to result in a goal. The
Expected Goals metric is not perfect nor does OPTA’s modeling claim to
be. When Expected Goals is calculated on a per-game basis (over
samples of ~30 shots) the metric can fall victim to the biases caused
by small sample sizes. Sometimes, however, it can be useful in
understanding a team’s performance during a particularly good or bad
run of form, a stretch that Armenia currently finds itself in.

But what about luck? In the professional game or at any level for that
matter, can much stock be put into such a thing? It is often said that
good teams make their own luck. I’m not sure I fully buy into that
claim. I believe good players and good teams rather than making their
own luck, have in fact an innate ability to capitalize and profit from
whatever luck comes their way. I believe that to be a skill, and not
entirely related to the rub of the green. Having a keen sense of
concentration, reaction, balance, and spatial awareness can see great
players profit from lucky situations. Average players or the average
team who never seem to profit from such situations on a consistent
basis are usually left cursing their bad luck. With that said, does
Armenia deserve to be rock bottom of Group I?

New York-based OPTA statistician Devin Pleuler, a regular contributor
to the Central Winger series on mlssoccer.com, was kind enough to
share Armenia’s numbers from their recent three qualifying matches.
The results aren’t very surprising, but they do indicate a performance
level that is below par. By solely looking at the Expected Goals
metric, it could be concluded that Armenia deserved nothing from their
away games versus Denmark and Portugal, and somewhat overachieved in
Copenhagen by getting on the score sheet at all, when the quality of
their chances only resulted in 0.36 Expected Goals. Conversely,
Armenia can feel a little unlucky not to secure the three points
against Serbia. Even though Serbia out shot Armenia in that match,
Armenia’s Expected Goals was much higher, indicating a higher quality
of scoring opportunity (namely, the penalty kick and rebound effort
from Marcos Pizzelli who was denied by an outrageous double save by
the Serbian goalkeeper late in the match).

Armenia’s Expected Goals metric from their recent three qualifying matches

What about Armenia’s S.M.A.R.T goals for 2015? Considering seeding and
past history, a realistic and attainable goal for Armenia should be
third place in the group and a playoff berth. Nothing more, nothing
less. This is after all an incremental improvement beyond their last
Euro campaign (where they just missed out on the playoff) and
something they have yet to achieve in their history. Arguably they
should have three points, but the fact of the matter is Armenia sits
on one point in Group I, three adrift of the playoff spot. That third
place berth is currently occupied by Albania, Armenia’s next
opponents, a match scheduled to be played in Albania on March 29,
2015. Regardless of the outcome of the other match in the group on
that day, Serbia vs. Portugal, securing a victory against Albania will
get Armenia’s campaign right back on track at the halfway point in
proceedings. That would leave Armenia with at least a tie for that
third place spot after four matches with four more left to be played,
three of which are at home. If that can be achieved, the results of
2014 will be a distant memory and the task at hand will once again be
within reach.

Kurdistan’s Joan Baez Sings in Armenian

By Edwina Charles, BA (Phil), BSc Hon (Psych), London, 17 December 2014

Many are the classically-trained opera singers who sing in languages
which are not their mother tongue. But rare is the ‘foreign’ singer
whose articulation is as good as that of the native speaker’s, and
even rarer the person whose command of the foreign tongue surpasses
that of some native speakers.

Aygűl Erce, the Kurdish folk singer based in London, seems–I am
assured by Prof. Hovhanness I. Pilikian, an Armenian
philologist–enunciates in Armenian better than most Western
Armenians.

This is not surprising as Prof. Pilikian had recognized the talent of
Ms. Erce (classically trained as an opera-singer) and had recently
taken her under his wing, and translated into literary Armenian (in a
way that is understood by Eastern and Western Armenians) one of Ms.
Erce’s famous songs, originally in a double version of Kurdish and
Turkish (They Stole My Years Away).

The professor’s musically fitting translation is a glorious mixture of
both literary Armenian dialects. For example, “Yess hakin em vznots-s”
(I am wearing my scarf/necklace) in grammatical form is in Eastern
Armenian, but perfectly legible to Western Armenians, with the added
ambiguity of the scarf meaning necklace as well. There are also
magnificent puns in the line “Vostikanner@ ints bantetsin” (the police
{also soldiers} jailed {but also killed/murdered} me). S-bannel echoes
(the sound from the two words murder, kill).

Apolitical Pop

The de-politicization of the pop world by the American ruling elite
over several decades has succeeded in inventing a fantasy drug-fueled
world of no more than androgynous male singers usually singing in
Beatles-type falsetto, and female pop divas with lyrics emptied of
serious content. Gone are the days when Bob Dylan and Joan Baez could
raise global consciousness against the war in Vietnam and topple
American authorities.

Idolizing Joan Baez as an artist, Ms. Erce’s bonus value is that she
is preserving and modernizing Ms. Baez’ tradition of writing
politically humanitarian protest songs, shaming the evildoers of the
world, and displaying compassion for the underdog, the unfairly
abused, and the masses lacking social justice, oppressed by brutal
governments.

And here is her best hitherto–PuÃ…?e (Scarf)–about a young and
innocent (presumably Kurdish) university student, waiting at a bus
stop to go to university and instead, the ‘Americanized’ brutalized
genocidal Turkish police arrest him, beat him up with batons, and
throw him in jail, all because he happens to wear the Palestinian-type
scarf worn by the Intifada youth … The Kurdish student is put on
trial, as in Kafka’s novel, never knowing why. His university cut off,
his dreams of a career destroyed. For wearing a Palestinian-style
scarf.

The story is true, and was reported in the Turkish press. It inspired
Ms. Erce to her most melodious and easily remembered, heart-breaking
song.

Prof. Pilikian seems to have coached Ms. Erce, working meticulously on
her Armenian enunciation, but especially musically on aselective
translation that takes into account the complexity of the song’s
political themes and their evocative semantic dimensions, frequently
rendering explicit what is implicit in the original. For example, by
describing the scarf with a single word (“Palestinian”), Prof.
Pilikian has linked the struggles of the two oppressed peoples, whose
lands are conquered by the oppressors: Kurdistan by the Turks, and
Arab Palestine by the Israelis.

Two extremely rich moments in the narrative occur when Prof. Pilikian
contextually vibrates with a single word several socio-political
layers of references: “Anonk ints voghchagizetsin” (they–the brutal
genocidiers–who holocausted me”, referring to the Holocaust, and in
the main refrain of the song–“O yaman, yaman, yaman”. Mourning in his
cell, the young student remembers his mother (“Oi mama-s, mama-s,
mama-s), apologizing to his mother for causing her grief, while
expressing longing for her maternal love and warmth.

Aygűl Erce and Joan Baez

“It was not at all difficult to work with Ms. Erce”, Prof. Pilikian
said. “She is pitch-perfect–rare even among experienced
opera-singers. A fount of melodious harmonies, her lyrics are always
deeply significant, highly political, profoundly compassionate and
humanitarian. Her musical phrasing is smooth and tuneful, richly and
memorably tuneful. In other words, a second Joan Baez. No wonder the
legendary Ms. Baez is Ms. Erce’s ideal and idol. I was very pleased
when on a recent appearance of Ms. Baez in London, Mark Spector, Ms.
Baez’ agent performed the impossible miracle: Upon my recommendation,
he arranged for the star to meet her young acolyte, hence this most
beautiful sisterly picture.”

Ms Erce is so pleased with her work with Prof. Pilikian that she said
she already feels like an … Armenian and that she is almost certain
she must have had an Armenian grandmother. She knows her husband does.
Indeed her Kurdish husband had discovered some time ago that he had an
Armenian grandmother, like many Kurds nowadays re-discovering their
Armenian origins.

“In today’s Turkey,” said Prof. Pilikian, “so many Turks and Kurds
have had the courage to come out of the woodworks and claim their
part-Armenian heritage. It has become almost trendy to claim an
Armenian connection… And imagine, Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman Minister
of the Interior with Enver and Jemal who planned and organized the
genocide of two million Armenians…Talaat who had bragged to the
American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau that he was determined to leave
only a single Armenian, for a taxidermist, to stuff it for a museum
as a sample of the race. The proto-Nazi must be turning in his grave
hearing of several million modern Turks being proud of their Armenian
grandmothers–almost a ‘new race’ I call Armeno-Turks. History shall
never be on the side of genocidiers.”

Lyrics of Aygul Erce’s Song PuÃ…?e
Translated into Armenian by Professor Hovhanness I. Pilikian

Eem Vzno-tz-e(h)

Ba-gh eh ot-e(h) aissor
Yess hakin em Vzno-ts-e(h)-s
Otobiuss-e(h) che(h)kav jamin
Yess ch-hassa hamalsaran

Vostikanner-e(h) in-ts bante(h)-ts-in
Vzno-ts-s getin nete(h)-ts-in
Vzno-ts-s Pa-gh-estin-ian
Ou-zeh-ts-in giank-s p-ja-ts-neh-l

O yaman, yaman, yaman
O yaman, yaman, yaman,
Oi mamas, mamas, mamas
Ou-zeh-ts-in giank-s p-ja-ts-neh-l

Anonk ints voghjakizeh-ts-in
Go-gh-ts-an giankiss tarinere(h)
Giankiss jame(h)re(h) vatne(h)-ts-in
Hamalsaran-s ve(h)rja-ts-ou-ts-in

Yev Yess ch-ou-ne(h)m patas-kh-an
Te(h) in-ts he(h)t in-ch patah-e(h)-ts
Anonk in-ts dataran han-ts-ne(h)-ts-in
Arran-ts im han-ts-ank-e(h) passtel-ou

O yaman, yaman, yaman
O yaman, yaman, yaman,
Oi mamas, mamas, mamas
Ou-zeh-ts-in giank-s p-ja-ts-neh-l

PuÅ?i (Kurdish)PUÅ?Ä° (Turkish)Scarf (English)
Hewa pir sare îroHava cok soguk bugunThe weather is cold today
Min puÅ?îya xwe giredaTaktim yine PusimiI wore my scarf called PuÅ?i
Otobus jî nema hatOtobuste gelmedi
Dereng mam ji dibistanê xweGec kaldim okulumaThe bus did not arrive on time
and I was late for my Uni
Xistin zindane XistinTiktilar iceriye
Avêtin puÅ?îya min erdêAttilar Pusimi yereSuddenly, the Police put me in prison
Qey min puÅ?î gredayîPusi takmisim diyeThey threw my PuÅ?i on the floor
Å?ewitandin biqesdanîYaktilar bile bile
Because I wore a large scarf
Oy eman eman emanOy aman aman amanThey wanted to ruin my life on purpose
Oy eman eman emanOy aman aman aman
Å?ewitandin dayê emanOy aman yaktilar anamThey did ruin my life indeed
Salên min dizîn emanYillarimi caldilarAi yaman yaman yaman

Ciwanîya min dest diçeGencligim gidiyor eldenAi yaman yaman yaman
Dibistana min zu qetîyaOkulum bitti erkenAi yaman they burnt me alive
Ewa ku serê min hatBasima gelenlereThey stole my years away
manayek Hên nikaribumBir anlam veremeden
Dadgehê ava kirine My Life’s time is wasted
Cezayê min birîneMahkemeyi kurmuslarMy Uni is over
Çi govan heye çi selminCezamida kesmisler
Salên min dizîne emanNe tanik var ne delilAnd I really have no answer
Yillarimi calmislarAs to what happened to me
Xistin zindane Xistin
Avêtin puÅ?îya min erdê They put me on trial
Qey min puÅ?î gredayî They sentenced me
Å?ewitandin biqesdanî Without any evidence of what my guilt was

Oy eman eman eman
Oy eman eman eman
Å?ewitandin dayê eman
Salên min dizîn eman

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 30 2014

Turkey discusses threats in 2014’s final National Security Council meeting

The last National Security Council (MGK) meeting of 2014 was held on
Tuesday at the Presidential Palace in Ankara. The meeting of Turkey’s
top national security body was chaired by President Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ?an, and the topics discussed included regional security threats
caused by the terrorist organisation the Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham (ISIS), the current situation of the training and equipping
program for Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, and the ongoing
cooperation between Turkey and the U.S in this field, and Turkey’s
ongoing aid to peshmerga forces fighting against ISIS were at the top
of the agenda according to sources. In 2015, the Armenian diaspora
will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the alleged Armenian events,
and public diplomacy efforts against the Armenian diaspora is also
expected to be discussed in the meeting.

The ongoing Kurdish reconciliation process and the future of the
process were also discussed in the meeting. Following the Oct. 6-7
Kobani protests that turned into violent clashes between pro- and
anti-PKK groups upon calls of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic
Party (HDP) for street protests, similar incidents took place last
weekend in the southeastern town of Cizre which left three people
dead. Following the incidents, Prime Minister Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu said
that the clashes were perpetrated by outside provocateurs who have
been detained.

Turkey’s relations with the European Union were also discussed in the
meeting. The top three EU commissioners visited Ankara in early
December and they stressed the importance of energizing Turkish-EU
relations during their visit. However, heavy criticism by EU’s
officials that came after the Dec. 14 operation was disapproved of and
the EU’s approach was not found to be sincere by Ankara. Last week,
however, ErdoÄ?an called the president of the European Commission,
Jean-Claude Juncker, and extended an invitation to visit Turkey.

Turkey’s ongoing fight against the Gülen Movement’s infiltration into
state institutions that is considered a national threat was also
discussed in the meeting. In a previous meeting held on Oct. 30, the
MGK publicly documented the movement of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar
Fethullah Gülen, referred to by government officials as the “parallel
state,” as one of the leading threats against the country’s national
security. The MGK said in a written statement that measures would be
taken to combat these networks. “The fight against ‘parallel
structures’ and all other illegal formations, which assume a legal
posture, both domestic and foreign, will be maintained with resolve,”
the statement said.

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Dec 30 2014

Champville narrowly beats Homenetmen

Champville clinched a victory in overtime against Homenetmen.

Dany Abboud| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Rony Fahed scored a two-pointer on the buzzer to lead
Champville to a hard-fought 79-77 victory in overtime against
Homenetmen in a postponed game from round three of the Lebanese
Basketball League in Dik El Mehdi Monday.

The match was postponed two weeks after former Lebanese Olympic
Committee President Antoine Chartier passed away.

Fahed had almost cost Champville the game when he missed two free
throws with five seconds left in regular time when the result was tied
at 67-67. But the 32-year-old veteran guard made up for his stumble
and scored the game-winner from a midrange shot.

The Armenian side led at halftime 29-25 after 41-year-old center Joe
Vogel starred in the first two quarters and was impressively present
on both ends.

But the hosts replied in the third quarter as they overturned a
four-point deficit to lead 51-42 going into the fourth.

The match had significant importance on the standings as both teams
are expected to fight together for fourth place. Champville is now
fifth with 2-3, tied with Homenetmen in sixth.

Another postponed game from round three will take place Tuesday as
Mouttahed host Hoops after their impressive victory against Sagesse
88-77 Sunday.

The Economist
Jan 3, 2015 edition

The Armenian genocide: Seeing through fire

Untangling the hatred between Turks and Armenians

Jan 3rd

There Was and There Was Not. By Meline Toumani. Metropolitan Books; 304 pages

ANNIVERSARIES have become the party theme of our time, especially over
the past year, as the world was reminded of the start of the first
world war. At least two further historic moments will be marked in
2015. One is the battle of Waterloo, which on June 18th will be
accompanied by triumphal chest-beating (at least in Britain).
Elsewhere, the centenary of the Armenian genocide is likely to arouse
rage as well as recrimination.

On April 24th 1915 scores of Armenian intellectuals and artists were
rounded up in Istanbul, the capital of the collapsing Ottoman empire,
and later killed. The killings marked the start of a protracted period
of persecution of the empire’s Christian subjects, who were subjected
to state-sanctioned murder, rape and huge forced deportations to the
Syrian desert. At least 1m people–mostly Armenians–died.

In an audacious first book, Meline Toumani, an Armenian-American
journalist who grew up in suburban New Jersey, describes spending two
weeks every year as a youngster in an Armenian summer camp in
Massachusetts, where she and fellow schoolchildren were ordered never
to forget what happened to the Armenians. She offers a compelling
account of the hatred she was encouraged to feel towards Turks. But
the former New York Times writer also had a rebellious streak that
prodded her to draw her own conclusions about historic nationalism.

Already, as a young student, Ms Toumani “wondered whether there was a
way to honour a history without being suffocated by it, to belong to a
community without conforming to it, a way to remember a genocide
without perpetuating the kind of hatred that gave rise to it in the
first place.” Alarmed at her own ambivalence Ms Toumani decided that
“the quickest way to remedy this would be to cut through all the
lobbying and hateful rhetoric and sit down with some elderly Armenians
to hear what they had suffered.”

That method failed to answer her questions. Her depictions of
nonagenarian Armenian ladies being trotted out by publicists to recite
fading and confused memories of the slaughter, are biting, even cruel.
But Ms Toumani is not questioning that the genocide took place. Rather
she is interested in the “why” or the “how”.

Her quest connects her to intrepid Turkish academics, such as Taner
Akcam and Fatma Muge Gocek, devoted to deconstructing Turkey’s
official line that in 1915 more Turks were killed by “treacherous”
Armenians than the other way round. Emboldened by “the strange
exhilaration of talking on the phone with a Turk”, the young writer
took the plunge and travelled to Turkey for the first time in 2005.
She returned to write this book in 2007, shortly after Hrant Dink, an
outspoken Turkish-Armenian newspaper owner, was gunned down by an
ultranationalist youth outside his office in Istanbul. Ms Toumani was
confident that her “ability to be self-critical as an Armenian” would
help her win people’s trust. She swiftly learned Turkish.

What ensued was a brief spell of enchantment with Istanbul and the
warmth of ordinary Turks. But this wore thin as she crashed into a
wall of denial that seemed to arise at almost every turn. Turkish
museums left out Armenian kingdoms and dynasties from their timelines.
When a female opposition politician claimed that Turkey’s then
president, Abdullah Gul, had Armenian blood he took her to court. The
faux tolerance displayed by liberal Turks (they all loved topik, an
Armenian dish) began to grate. “Each person who said it seemed to glow
with pride for having found such a graceful detour around his own
prejudice,” she writes

Ms Toumani also touches on the fraught relations between Turkey and
the neighbouring post-Soviet Armenia (Armenia’s borders with Turkey
and Azerbaijan are sealed; its borders with Iran and Georgia are not).
The author travelled to Armenia and is gruffly affectionate about the
place, though she came across a further twist of intra-Armenian racism
when a local sports team called an Istanbul Armenian opponent “a
Turkish dog”.

For all her disillusionment Ms Toumani acknowledges that there has
been a shift in Turkey. Using the word genocide no longer lands people
in jail. Thousands of “hidden Armenians”, whose ancestors converted to
Islam so their lives would be spared, are reclaiming their identities.
And on the eve of the genocide’s 99th anniversary, April 23rd 2014,
Turkey’s president (and then prime minister) Recep Tayyip Erdogan
offered an apology of sorts when he acknowledged the suffering of the
Armenians. Ms Toumani’s stirring memoir lends hope that
reconciliation, imperfect though it may be, can at last be achieved.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Karine Abalyan
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

December 30, 2014
___________________

A Book presentation on A Story of Exile

By Florence Avakian

The Eastern Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center was the
venue to hear a riveting account of childhood dreams crushed, the daily fear
of violence, and escape from country to country in search of a safe home.

On Thursday evening, November 13, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte related the
harrowing story of her family’s life in Baku during the ethnic cleansing of
Armenians by Azeri Muslims. The story recounted in Nowhere: A Story of Exile
includes their flight to Armenia-at a time when it was teetering on the edge
after the disastrous 1988 earthquake-and their eventual emigration to
America.

The Zohrab Information Center sponsored the lecture. Its director, the Very
Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan, called the book, “an extraordinary memoir
documenting the heartbreaking story of the 1988 pogroms against the
Armenians in Baku.” The Azeri terrorists who went from door to door with
prepared addresses of their Armenian victims also committed the atrocities
against the Armenians in Sumgait and Kirovabad.

The speaker has traveled to several locales presenting her book to both
Armenian and non-Armenian audiences. She began her talk by pointing out that
in Azerbaijan it was dangerous to name Armenian children with Armenian
names, and so she was called Anna: “a safer version of Anoush.” She was 10
when the brutalities began in Baku, and kept a diary from ages 14 to 16 of
her family’s struggles in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and America.

Her family’s graves and the graves of all Armenians were destroyed. Three
hundred thousand Armenians fled Baku and went to Armenia.

Escaping with her family (and nothing else) to Yerevan in 1989, she found a
country on the brink after the disastrous 1988 earthquake, the Turkish
blockade, and the Artsakh crisis.

“The people were in no condition to receive us, including our own family
members,” she related. “Anger, fear, and darkness had overtaken everyone.”
Shunned by teachers and resident Armenians, with no prospects for work, and
no decent place to live, her family decided that there was no future for
them in Yerevan.

“As a child, the resentment that drenched my little heart from this
treatment in Yerevan stayed with me for years. And it’s not isolated. It
stays with many Baku Armenians in Russia, Western Europe, and the United
States. It often overshadows other reasons why conditions were so bad,
because we saw humans at their worst in Baku, and then were seen as
traitors, or un-Armenian, by many in Yerevan.”

A Refugee Fate

She and her family came to America with $180 and four suitcases, and
“eventually built a successful life.” She called the 22 years in the U.S.
“not easy either financially or emotionally. I worked hard to become a
normal teenager, a normal young adult, a normal American, hoping to blend in
and forget. But I never really fitted in, not in Armenia, not with
Americans, and not with diasporan Armenians”-whom she said did not help her
family.

“Mine was a refugee fate. Two decades were lived avoiding the news from my
homeland Azerbaijan, my ancestral home Armenia, and the heartache in
Nagorno-Karabagh.”

But her years of avoiding everything Armenian and her outrage at her
childhood memories diminished as she read the diaries she had written in her
teenage years. As a mother of two children, her “maternal instincts kicked
in,” and she decided that her childhood memories had to be printed and read.

Following a two-year U.S. tour of her book, she was ready to return to her
ancestral home. “Coming back to Armenia was a freeing experience. There
cannot be a better way to return to your ancestral home than with love and
forgiveness, surrounded by the proud but quiet humming of your ethnicity in
every aspect of your life,” she said with obvious emotion.

This time she was warmly welcomed as an Armenian. Strolling through the busy
streets of Yerevan with her father, and seeing the thousands of people in
Republic Square enjoying the musical fountains, the lights, and the many
children dancing with flowers and balloons, she realized with pride the
inspiring achievements of these people who have survived Genocide,
earthquake, ethnic cleansing, war, and blockade: “a people who cannot be
exterminated.”

During her stay there, she also visited Artsakh and saw the dramatic
achievements of the brave people of that ancient Armenian land.

A lawyer and a human rights advocate, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte currently
lives in Maine with her husband and two children, and works in banking
regulatory reform. In April 2013, she successfully spearheaded the
Nagorno-Karabagh recognition efforts at the Maine House of Representatives.
She has been honored with the “Mkhitar Gosh Medal” by President Serge
Sargsyan, and a “Gratitude Medal” from Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan.

###

LA TURQUIE DECIDEE DE JOUER EN PREMIERE DIVISION EUROPEENNE

TURQUIE

La Turquie est “a 100%” decidee a integrer l’Union europeenne (UE)
afin de jouer dans “la première division” malgre le coup de froid
provoque par la vague d’arrestation visant des medias d’opposition
turcs, a declare a l’AFP un conseiller du gouvernement d’Ankara.

Les aspirations turques de rejoindre l’UE ont subi un revers après la
rafle policière operee a la mi-decembre dans les milieux lies au rival
politique d’Erdogan, l’imam Fethullah Gulen, exile aux Etats-Unis.

L’enquete a ete denoncee par Bruxelles comme un coup porte a la
liberte de la presse en Turquie et la virulente contre-attaque de M.

Erdogan a suscite des doutes sur les ambitions du Parti de la justice
et du developpement (AKP), au pouvoir a Ankara, de garder le cap
europeen.

Etyen Mahcupyan, un intellectuel turco-armenien conseiller en chef
du Premier ministre Ahmet Davutoglu, a neanmoins exclu toute deviation.

“L’AKP souhaite absolument, a cent pour cent, adherer a l’UE et
demontrer sa puissance en Europe”, a-t-il dit lors d’un entretien.

“Enthousiaste et confiant, Erdogan ne peut pas rever d’une Turquie qui
joue en deuxième division. Il veut jouer dans la première division”,
a-t-il dit.

M. Mahcupyan a critique l”incapacite” de l’Occident a comprendre la
guerre menee par le regime islamo-conservateur contre le mouvement
Gulen que l’homme fort de Turquie accuse d’avoir orchestre un complot
pour le renverser quand il etait Premier ministre, de 2003 a 2014. M.

Erdogan a ete elu president en août.

Hierarchie dans l’Etat –

M. Erdogan n’a de cesse de repeter que les partisans de Fethullah
Gulen dans la police et la magistrature sont a l’origine d’un vaste
scandale de corruption qui a cible sa personne et son entourage
politique a l’hiver 2013, promettant d’aneantir ce qu’il appelle
l'”Etat parallèle”.

Il a jusqu’a present procede a des purges dans la fonction publique
tandis que la justice turque a emis un mandat d’arret contre M. Gulen,
73 ans, qui dirige un mouvement qui a des interets dans les medias
et les finances.

“Il est très clair que la confrerie Gulen a tente de renverser le
gouvernement”, a affirme M. Mahcupyan, ajoutant que c’etait une
initiative “avortee”.

D’après le conseiller, la mouvance a mis sur pied une “hierarchie”
dans les institutions cles de l’Etat, avec un “groupe de base” de
5.000 a 10.000 personnes – sur trois millions de sympathisants du
mouvement – qui a imagine le “coup d’Etat”.

“Pour autant que je peux voir, Tayyip Erdogan et l’AKP tentent
d’expliquer cela autant que possible afin de convaincre (la majeure
par”, dit-il.

Critique en Turquie et a l’etranger pour des mesures controversees
renforcant son autorite, M. Erdogan a exhorte l’Europe a se “meler
de ses affaires” et ne pas avoir de “lecon de democratie” a recevoir.

M. Mahcupyan a compare l’AKP d’Erdogan a une “pendule balancant
entre autoritarisme et democratie”, indiquant que le parti avait
penche pour des mesures plus autoritaires chaque fois qu’il voyait
une menace pour sa survie.

AFP

mardi 30 decembre 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com