Author: Babajanian Karo

RAFFI HOVHANNISIAN MEETS EU AMBASSADORS

Lragir.am
Country – 27 February 2015, 17:08

Raffi K. Hovannisian, Heritage Party chairman and founding director of
the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS),
attended today a meeting organized by Ambassador Traian Hristea,
European Union mission chief in Armenia. The ambassadors of EU
member-states accredited in Armenia, together with Heritage MP Zaruhi
Postanjyan, also were invited to the meeting.

During the discussion, Hovannisian and the EU ambassadors discussed
the importance of EU-Armenia relations in all areas of collaboration
and confidence-building. They exchanged perspectives on issues of
efficiency and EU efforts to promote reforms in Armenia, as well as on
recent political and public currents in the Republic. The participants
agreed that the strategic partnership with the European Union bears
great potential for the future development of Armenia.

Heritage Party Press Service

INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL ANTRANIK WITH A CORRESPONDENT OF THE GUARDIAN (UK) IN 1919

February 25, 2015

ARMENIA’S NEED OF PROTECTION

ANTRANIK AND THE WORLD’S INDIFFERENCE

Mr. Scotland Liddell, the correspondent of the British press, in a
dispatch from Gerusi, Caucasus, dated February 1, says:-

Following on my visit to the Mussulman villages in the Zangezurski
Province, I rode here last night, crossing in the dark from the Tartar
district into country inhabited by Armenians. I came alone without
an escort, and as is usual when crossing such boundary lines at the
present time, I was fired on. The darkness was fortunate.

To-day I had lunch and an interview with General Antranik at his
headquarters in the town. Antranik, a handsome man of 53, has
personality. The Mussulman with whom I have been living these past
ten days declared him to be a bandit. But much has been done in
Antranik’s name of which he is quite innocent. My meeting with him
has strengthened this belief.

For thirty-three years Antranik has fought against the Turk. On one
occasion he and 49 men were besieged in a monastery at Arakelots. They
held out for twenty-two days against 4,000 Turks, and escaped in
safety. In the Balkan War of 1912 Antranik went with his small band
of warriors and fought with the Bulgarians against Turkey. In 1914
he was at Varna. On August 25 of that year he left for the Caucasus,
where he raised a volunteer army of Armenians. In the two years
1914-1916 he and his men marched nearly 5,000 miles and fought 39
battles, but it was not until 1917 that the Russians gave him the
rank of officer in their army.

It is difficult to write briefly of Antranik’s doing in the past
two years. Bolshevism ruined the once splendid Russian army and the
Russian soldiers left the front. Antranik remained to carry on his
great struggle against his country’s oppressors. He fought against
cruel odds. He had no artillery and no machine-guns, there was little
bread, and many of his men deserted. There were thousands of Armenians
refugee women and children who had to be protected. Antranik held
out, and even when Armenia made peace with the Turks last year he
did not cease to fight. It was, he told me, a shameful peace, and
to that he would not agree. Finally, when the armistice was signed,
he returned to Gerusi.

Antranik is the one great Armenian national hero. They have a
superstition that nothing can harm him, and it is certainly a very
remarkable fact that in all his long years of fighting he has never
once been wounded.

All this information as to his career I received by frequent
questioning. Antranik himself talked only of the present and the future
state of Armenia. Some of the figures he gave me were appalling. Nearly
1,000,000 Armenians have been massacred during the war by the Turks. In
the Caucasus alone there are over 250,000 Armenian refugees at the
present time. At Erivan there are upwards of 8,000 orphans. In the
Crimean and in the Southern Russian Black Sea districts there are
at least another 35,000 refugees who fled from Armenia. If no help
is given immediately, the Armenian refugees in the Caucasus will
die of hunger. They must be sent back to their former holdings, and
they must have the necessary agricultural machinery to enable them
to raise their crops. Unless help is forthcoming before the spring
most of the people will be lost.

Race Threatened with Extinction.

“I am shocked,” said Antranik, “at the indifference of the whole
world to the sufferings of Armenia. Not only the Allies but also
all the European countries are heartless and without pity. I am not
referring to the present time nor even to the past four years, but I
speak now of the past thirty or forty years, when the whole world has
been shockingly callous and indifferent to our sufferings. The Allies
have done nothing. All the Armenian intellectuals have either been
murdered or they have emigrated. We are in need of leaders for the
poor people. Unless we have help, and unless Armenians will come from
Europe and America to assist us, our whole race will die out. Those who
have the means will themselves emigrate, and the poorer folk will die.

“The great question of the future, as far as we are concerned, is
who will be master here. Without the protection of another country
Armenia cannot exist. She cannot rule herself. There would always be
unrest and little combats with the Tartars over racial matters.”

Antranik defended himself against the charges of having wantonly
destroyed Tartar villages. The fault, he said, lay with the Tartar
leaders, who chose to sympathise with the Turk instead of with the
Allies. They opposed him in every way, so he was compelled to combat
against them. Incidentally he told me this: “I believe that there was
a German Turkish scheme to raise 300,000 men in the Caucasus last
year, and to send these men through Persia to threaten India.” In
that case it was Antranik’s intention to work his way down to Persia
and to join the British forces there. The collapse of Turkey put an
end to the scheme.

Antranik is shortly going to retire. He has travelled in Europe before
– Paris, Antwerp, Berlin, Rome, and he has been in England. He tells
me he has already got a future home in view – Manchester.-Press
Association War Special.

The Manchester Guardian (aka The Guardian now)

Thursday, March 13, 1919 Page 8

(This article was posted By Katia M. Peltekian)

LE RASSEMBLEMENT DE DIMANCHE : UN VRAI TEST POUR LE TRIO D’OPPOSITION

Politique

Le HAK s’attend a ce que la manifestation a venir a Erevan soit un
“test” pour les forces politiques d’opposition afin de determiner
s’ils sont vraiment determines a changer de regime.

Levon Zurabian, chef du groupe parlementaire du HAK, a reconnu
l’incertitude persistante sur l’avenir de la coalition d’opposition
tripartite après que l’un de ses principaux membres, le BHK dirige
par le magnat Gagik Tsarukian, se soit reconcilie avec le parti
republicain après avoir ete mis sous pression par le gouvernement
plus tôt ce mois-ci.

Le HAK, le BHK et le parti du Patrimoine avaient prevu d’organiser
un rassemblement de l’opposition conjoint a Erevan vendredi dernier
en reponse a l’offensive que le president Serge Sarkissian et son
parti republicain avaient lancee contre Tsarukian le 12 fevrier. La
manifestation devait exiger la demission du president Sarkissian et
la tenue d’elections presidentielles et legislatives anticipees. Mais
après plusieurs jours d’une confrontation tendue, le leader du BHK
a apparemment decide de battre en retraite, se declarant pret a
regler les differends par des moyens “pacifiques”. Le BHK a retire
sa participation a la manifestation.

Seul Raffi Hovannisian et ses partisans sont venus au Liberty Square
d’Erevan sur le 20 fevrier dernier. Hovannisian a declare lors du
rassemblement que le trio n’existait plus.

Zurabian du HAK a ete un peu plus vague sur l’avenir de la coalition
de l’opposition, en disant qu’il fallait que le BHK exprime clairement
sa position pour savoir si le trio pouvait toujours exister.

“En ce moment, le BHK est hors du jeu. Maintenant, ce parti doit
dire où il se situe. Depuis la campagne d’intimidation dont il a ete
victime, il ne s’est pas exprime sur ce sujet”, a declare Zurabian.

“Maintenant, le rassemblement du 1er mars sera un test pour nous, nous
permettant de savoir quelles forces continueront leur lutte au nom
de l’Armenie, peu importe la terreur que le regime leur fait subir.”

Le porte-parole du BHK, Tigran Urikhanian, a declare hier que le parti
va tenir sa prochaine convention au debut du mois de mars. Il n’a pas
precise si la question de la possible demission de Tsarukian sera a
l’ordre du jour. Auparavant, certains medias armeniens ont allegue
que Tsarukian quittera ses fonctions de chef de file pour devenir

LES PRESIDENTS DE LA FRANCE ET DE L’URUGUAY, PRESIDENTS D’HONNEUR DU COMITE DE COMMEMORATION DU 100ÈME ANNIVERSAIRE DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS

GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS-100ème ANNIVERSAIRE

Le 25 fevrier lors d’une conference de presse a Erevan, la ministre
de la Diaspora, Hranouche Hagopian a affirme que les presidents de la
France et de l’Uruguay seront nommes les presidents d’honneur du comite
charge de l’organisation des manifestations liees a la commemoration
du 100ème anniversaire du genocide des Armeniens. avec pour logo
symbole le myosotis qui furent valides sous la direction du president
de la Republique d’Armenie Serge Sarkissian >> dit Hranouche Hagopian.

Krikor Amirzayan

jeudi 26 fevrier 2015, Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : LE SPECTRE DE 1915 / THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, A HUNDRED YEARS ON

SUISSE

Nicolas Jallot, France, 2014, 52′, vf Première mondiale

Pour raconter le premier genocide d’un siècle qui n’en sera pas avare,
Nicolas Jallot part a la rencontre de deux personnages emblematiques,
un Turc et une Armenienne de Turquie. Hasan Cemal est le petit-fils de
Cemal Pacha, l’un des genocidaires, qui s’est rebelle contre
l’histoire officielle et est devenu un fervent soutien de la cause
armenienne. Fethiye Cetin, avocate et militante des droits de l’homme,
est la petite-fille d’une rescapee du genocide adoptee par une famille
turque. A travers eux, ce film presente au FIFDH en première mondiale,
mele la > et la > histoire, entre chronique
familiale et destin national, entre histoire et memoire.

Realisation Nicolas Jallot

Scenario Regis Gente

Image Emmanuel Roy

Montage Mathieu Zeitindjiglou

Production Transparences Productions

Distributeur Transparences Productions

215, rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

Horaire

Lun 02 mars / 20h00 / Grande Salle – Pitoëff

En presence du realisateur

Sam 07 mars / 14h30 / Salle Simon – Grutli

FIFDH (Festival du Film et Forum International des Droits Humains)

Genève

jeudi 26 fevrier 2015,
Stephane (c)armenews.com

CAVUSOGLU: WORLD NEEDS A RESOLUTION OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 25 2015

25 February 2015 – 12:05pm

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the South
Caucasus, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea have always been of
great importance for Turkey.”Unfortunately, there are lingering
problems such as Nagorno-Karabakh in this region,” he said.

“A peaceful solution to these problems within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is a factor that serves not only
the interests of the peoples of the region, but also the international
community,” Cavusoglu said. “Therefore, the international community,
international organizations, the UN and the OSCE in particular, should
redouble their efforts to resolve conflicts in the region. I would
like to emphasize that a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is one of the
main priorities of the foreign policy of Turkey. We always closely
follow the processes related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict,” Cavusoglu said. According to him, Turkey, as a member
of the Minsk Group, always raises the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict at multilateral platforms and during dialogues with third
countries. “We continue to work to inform the international community
and to find a resolution of this problem in the interests of fraternal
Azerbaijan” TASS cited him.

The European Union, according to the Turkish Minister, attaches great
importance to Azerbaijan.”Azerbaijan is a major gateway for the EU in
the Caspian region and Central Asia. Azerbaijan has potential which
can contribute to the EU in many areas, especially in the energy and
transport security,” Cavusoglu believes. At the same time, Turkey
is committed to ensuring the energy security of Europe. “So for the
past years Turkey has implemented very important strategic projects
with Azerbaijan,” Cavusoglu reminded.

For example, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which allows Azerbaijani
oil to be delivered to the world market, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum
pipeline. “Another project implemented with Azerbaijan is the TANAP
project, which is considered to be a major in the Southern Gas
Corridor. With the implementation of this project, Azerbaijani gas
will occupy an important place in Europe,” the Minister said. “At the
same time, TANAP is a project aimed at the future. Turkmenistan will
be able to deliver gas through this pipeline,” Cavusoglu stressed.

The diplomat also raised the topic of Turkey’s membership in
the EU, which, according to him, is a strategic objective of the
country.”Democracy, human rights, rule of law, the laws and values
of the EU are the main features of the reforms undertaken by Turkey.

First of all, the EU is a kind of center for Turkey, where these
values are intensively protected and developed in accordance with the
law. The main goal of Turkey’s efforts to join the EU is to achieve
the highest standards in terms of these laws and values. After the
expiration of discussions, the parties will make the final decision on
Turkey’s membership of the EU. One important feature for Turkey is to
ensure the highest standards in every area, including the well-being
of citizens,” the Foreign Minister said.

He noted that Turkey’s membership of the EU would not mean that the
country would be indifferent to the events taking place in the region,
or would pursue a unilateral foreign policy. “Turkey will continue to
implement the objectives of the multilateral foreign policy, dictated
by the geographical location, and historical and cultural ties of the
country. This process is mutually beneficial. From this perspective,
Turkey’s entry into the structure will create an opportunity for
the EU to have a big impact on more extensive territory, which will
affect the dynamics of the EU economy, ” the head of the Turkish
Foreign Ministry said.

“To discuss the items on which negotiations should be conducted,
it is necessary for the EU to make a unanimous decision. But the EU
prevents discussion of eight sections of Turkey, and the Republic
of Cyprus – of six. The political obstacles that we faced during the
adoption of the Republic of Cyprus into the EU without a solution to
the Cyprus issue affect the discussions between Turkey and the EU,”
the Foreign Minister of Turkey said.

The terrorist organization Islamic State directly threatens Turkey.

Cavusoglu said that in such circumstances, Turkey has shown itself as
one of the leading countries that protect international cooperation
in the fight against terrorism. On the one hand, Turkey is directly
involved in the Global Forum for Combating Terrorism and the Financial
Action Task Force, relating to the suppression of the financing of IS.

On the other hand, Turkey shares information related to IS and
foreign terrorists. “For a successful fight against terrorism, the
international community needs to connect to it and carry out activities
within the framework of a unified strategy to eliminate this danger,”
the minister said.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey, along with protecting its national
interests, is fighting radicalism in Syria. “As we noted earlier,
radicalism is not the cause but the result. The main culprit of the
occurrence of the terrorist organization IS, which is supported to
deal with various factions. Accordingly, in fighting IS, you should
not forget about the Assad regime, which is the main cause of the
spread of this threat,” Cavusoglu believes.

Speaking about the desire of the Syrian president to connect to the
fight against IS, Cavusoglu said that “no one can create a threat,
and then connect to fight to this threat.” “IS threatens the national
security of Turkey,” the head of the Foreign Ministry said. According
to him, the countries accusing Turkey of supporting IS are far from
the region, while Turkey is in this region. “That’s why Turkey ignores
the claims voiced to manipulate,” Cavusoglu concluded.

POTSDAM ORGANISE LA PRESENTATION DU LIVRE DE ROLF HOSFELD SUR LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

ALLEMAGNE

L’auteur pose la question de savoir comment la Turquie a reussi a
imposer sa position sur le monde entier.

La presentation du livre “Tod in der Wuste. Der Volkermord an den
Armeniern “(Mort dans le desert : Le genocide armenien) par l’ecrivain
et philosophe allemand Rolf Hosfeld a eu lieu a Potsdam.

Le livre revèle des informations historiques importantes concernant
les atrocites commises contre les Armeniens par l’Empire ottoman au
printemps et a l’ete 1915 .

“Les Armeniens ont ete deportes dans les deserts et ont ete tue a
mi-chemin. La mort les attendait tous : hommes, femmes et enfants, ”
a eclare Rolf Hosfeld citant le discours de l’ambassadeur d’Allemagne
en Turquie en 1915.

L’auteur pose la question de savoir comment la Turquie a reussi
a imposer sa position au monde entier, ce qui rend la question du
genocide un tabou dans le pays. Une autre question qu’il pose est
comment les conditions ont ete creees pour avoir orchestre et perpetre
ce crime.

Ne en 1948, Rolf Hosfeld est le directeur academique de la Maison
Lepsius de Potsdam en Allemagne et l’auteur de nombreux ouvrages
documentaires et articles academiques.

Directeur du Centre national francais de la recherche scientifique
et professeur a l’Institut d’histoire contemporaine Peter Schottler
a livre ses remarques a l’ouverture de la presentation.

jeudi 26 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LE PREMIER PRESIDENT SOLLICITE UNE RENCONTRE EN TETE-A-TETE AVEC LE PRESIDENT SARKISSIAN

ARMENIE

La presse rend compte de la > de Levon
Ter-Petrossian au President Sarkissian. Le dirigeant du Congrès
national armenien affirme avoir prepare ce courrier bien avant,
mais avoir reporte sa publication du fait de la tension sur la scène
politique interieure suscitee par le > discours de Serge
Sarkissian contre le president d’Armenie prospère. M. Ter-Petrossian,
qui avait vivement critique la declaration pan-armenienne du centenaire
du Genocide, en la qualifiant de > pour la normalisation
des relations armeno-turques , propose au Chef de l’Etat un entretien
en tete-a-tete afin de discuter du centenaire du Genocide et de la
position de l’Etat armenien sur la question du Genocide. Il propose
egalement de constituer une commission consultative qui elaborerait,
sur la base de la declaration pan-armenienne du centenaire du
Genocide, un nouveau texte/message qui reflèterait la position de
l’Etat armenien en cette matière et qui, au nom du President de
la Republique d’Armenie, serait envoye au SG/ONU, au President en
exercice de l’OSCE, a celui de l’UE et a tous les chefs d’Etat du
monde. M. Ter-Petrossian evoque meme des personnalites en Armenie
et a l’etranger qui pourraient faire partie de cette commission
consultative, dont lui-meme. Il n’exclut pas qu’il puisse prendre
aussi une initiative similaire en ce qui concerne le règlement du
conflit du HK. >, a-t-il ecrit, en proposant de se mettre au-dela des divergences
politiques et de privilegier les interets de l’Etat.

Le porte-parole du President de la Republique, Arman Saghatelian,
a indique que le Chef de l’Etat avait pris connaissance de la lettre
de M. Ter-Petrossian et y repondra prochainement.

Haykakan Jamanak et Hayots Achkhar, tout en affirmant connaître
l’esprit > de l’ex-President, disent ne pas croire en sa
sincerite. D’après eux, il aurait presage une reconciliation entre
Serge Sarkissian et Gaguik Tsaroukian et, pour ne pas rester en-dehors
du processus politique et dans l’ombre de ces deux hommes, aurait
lance une initiative surprise, en accentuant une fois de plus son rôle
primordial sur l’echiquier politique armenien et en valorisant son
rôle de premier President > a lance son propre jeu,
en jouant du cavalier.

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 18 fevrier 2015

mercredi 25 fevrier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO UN: SNIPER WITHDRAWAL IS PRIORITY

February 24, 2015 18:12

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan

Photo: Photolure

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN,
Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stated that ahead of the Armenian
Genocide Centennial Armenia stood ready to normalize relations with
Turkey without any preconditions, however Armenia’s good will was
not duly appreciated by Turkey.

“Today’s policy of denial supports future criminals. Challenging the
denial, I should say that millions of people, including in Turkey,
speak about it”, said Zohrab Mnatsakanyan at the discussion on
international peace and security.

The Ambassador also highlighted the right to self-determination
enshrined by the UN Charter.

“This principle should be dominating and should be carried out. And
it’s not a stipulation that it should conflict with or violate the
territorial integrity of any country – the recent referendum in
Scotland is a proof of it”, he said.

Touching upon the NK conflict the Ambassador urged Azerbaijan to
withdraw its snipers.

“Establishing mutual trust, including the withdrawal of snipers and
investigation of ceasefire violations, is presently a priority”,
said the Ambassador.

L’AMBASSADEUR DE FRANCE S’EXPRIME DANS LA PRESSE ARMENIENNE

Publie le : 25-02-2015

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
propose cette information parue sur le site de l’Ambassade de France
en Armenie.

Legende photo : Jean-Francois Charpentier, l’Ambassadeur de France
a Ereva

Ambassade de France en Armenie

Entretien de M. l’Ambassadeur de France au quotidien Joghovoud

L’Ambassadeur de France a Erevan, Monsieur Jean-Francois Charpentier,
a repondu aux questions que lui avaient adressees les journalistes
de Joghovoud au sujet du Centenaire du Genocide armenien.

Cet entretien a ete publie dans l’edition du 6 fevrier du quotidien,
voici son contenu :

1. En tant que representant de votre pays en Armenie, que savez-vous du
Genocide Armenien et en general, quel est votre sentiment par rapport
aux evènements sanglants qui ont marque l’Histoire de l’Armenie ?

“Il y a quelques jours, le 28 janvier, devant les representants des
communautes armeniennes de France, le President de la Republique
Francois Hollande a une nouvelle fois exprime la position de
la France sur la question. Il a decrit le processus par lequel
les differentes vagues de massacres se sont mises en place : tout
d’abord les assassinats en masse a partir du 24 avril 1915, puis les
deportations vers la Syrie auxquelles nombre de prisonniers n’ont pas
survecu et enfin les camps, .

publie le 23/02/2015

L’Ambassadeur de France Monsieur Jean-Francois Charpentier a repondu
aux questions envoyees par l’agence ArmenPress