Author: Babajanian Karo

Azerbaijan Armenia: Karabakh’s smouldering conflict
By Damien McGuinness

BBC News, Azerbaijan
16 December 2012

The pain from the war over Nagorno Karabakh still pricks Antiga
Gahramanova two decades later
Continue reading the main story
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Remembering the dead of Nagorno-Karabakh
Antiga Gahramanova has been waiting two decades for a resolution to
the war which forced her from her home – but fears are growing that
the so-called frozen conflict of Nagorno Karabakh could spring back to
life, more ferociously than ever.

A faded portrait hangs on the wall of the tiny room belonging to Mrs
Gahramanova, who is now 80.

It shows a beautiful young couple with dark mournful eyes: Mrs
Gahramanova’s daughter and son-in-law.

Tears roll down her lined cheeks when she explains what happened to
them during the war with Armenia two decades ago: “Armenian soldiers
tied my son-in-law to a tree.

“And they burnt him alive, screaming. Then they fired a bullet into
the side of my daughter’s head.”

Mrs Gahramanova and her daughter’s four young children were forced to watch.

Continue reading the main story
`
Start Quote

The only thing that I want is to go back to my homeland, to die in the
place where I was born’

Antiga Gahramanova
Azerbaijani refugee
“Then they shot my six-year-old granddaughter dead,” she said, wiping
the tears away with her patterned headscarf.

“And they shot another granddaughter in the heel. They said it was to
teach us a lesson.”

She herself managed to escape. She hid under bushes for four days with
the remaining three grandchildren before making her way through the
snow, dragging the children with her.

For 20 years now Mrs Gahramanova has been living in a small room in a
crumbling Soviet-era sanatorium. It is here that she has brought up
her three orphaned grandchildren.

“The only thing that I want is to go back to my homeland, to die in
the place where I was born. I just want to be able to go home,” she
says.

An estimated 600,000 Azerbaijanis, or 7% of the country’s population,
live similar existences in Soviet-era schools, hospitals or university
buildings – families of five, six or seven people sharing one tiny
room.

Often there is no bathroom – just a couple of foul squat toilets to be
shared between hundreds of people.

In Armenia, meanwhile, around 10% of the population are refugees who
fled from Azerbaijan, according to the Armenian political analyst,
Alexander Iskandaryan.

Horrific atrocities were allegedly committed by both sides.

Strangers
Today attitudes are becoming more entrenched: a whole generation has
grown up being fed a one-sided, and sometimes even false,
interpretation of history, without ever meeting people from the other
side of the border.

“For my students, Azerbaijanis are like something from the moon,” says
Mr Iskandaryan.

“They know more about Britain than about Azerbaijan. And the same goes
for young people in Azerbaijan.”

It was a brutal war over disputed territory, which broke out in 1991
amid the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The region of Nagorno
Karabakh was in Azerbaijan but it was populated predominantly by
Armenians.

Up to 30,000 people were killed and a million forced to flee their
homes before a tenuous ceasefire was agreed in 1994. Most of those who
were displaced during the war have never been allowed back.

Their homeland is now a war zone.

The disputed region is controlled by Armenia but Azerbaijan wants it back.

Hundreds of kilometres of deep trenches zigzag along the front line in
western Azerbaijan. It all looks like something out of World War I.

At regular intervals there are raised parapets, protected by sandbags,
with gaps to shoot through.

On the other side, just a few hundred metres away across no-mans-land
and the battered remains of a vineyard, you can see a raised bank of
earth, where Armenian snipers are stationed – presumably looking right
back at us.

Both countries have signed a ceasefire but an official peace agreement
has never been agreed. Peace talks meanwhile have stalled.

Soldiers say that shooting breaks out here on a daily basis, telling
us that there was an exchange of fire at this position just a quarter
of an hour before we arrived. Both sides blame the other, and say they
only shoot in response.

Conscripts
What is clear is that over the past two years at least 60 people have
been killed along the front line. Mostly soldiers, who on the Azeri
side are often baby-faced conscripts in their teens or early twenties.

Azeri conscripts like Elham Mammadov are drafted to serve at the front
“I’m very proud to serve my homeland,” says Elham Mammadov, a
19-year-old Azeri conscript, who has been stationed here at the front
for eight months.

“And every day, every hour, I want the war to start, so that we can
liberate our homeland from the Armenian aggressor.”

He may sound like he is ready for a fight but he looks nervous.

Azeri villagers are also regularly fired on by snipers. They tend
cattle and plough fields amid the remains of bombed-out villages
within metres of the front.

There are fears the situation could again spiral out of control and,
with more sophisticated weaponry available to both sides, analysts say
a return to war could have even worse consequences.

“There are now offensive missile systems capable of hitting Baku and
Yerevan, the capitals of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” says Lawrence Sheets
from the International Crisis Group.

“This is a conflict which has the danger of pulling in major regional powers.”

That would mean Nato-member Turkey on one side and Russia on the
other. And with Iran next door, and the region a crucial source of oil
and gas for Europe, all-out fighting would have serious implications.

BOXE
L’Arménien Arthur Abraham s’impose face au Français Mehdi Bouadla pour
le titre mondial WBO des super-moyens

L’Arménien qui combat sous les couleurs de l’Allemagne, Arthur Abraham
a conservé son titre de champion du monde WBO des super-moyens. Hier
soir à Nurenberg, il s’est imposé facilement face au Français Mehdi
Bouadla par arrêt à la 8e reprise du combat prévu en douze rounds.

Pour sa première chance mondiale et à 30 ans, Bouadla a crnement tenu
son rôle de challengeur avant de céder peu à peu sous la puissance des
coups du champion allemand.

« J’étais venu pour prendre la ceinture mais malheureusement Abraham
était supérieur. Mais je n’ai pas à rougir de ce que j’ai fait », a
déclaré Bouadla après sa défaite. Touché à l’arcade de l’`il droit,
après consultation du médecin du ring, l’arbitre a préféré arrêter le
combat.

Bouadla a avancé sur son adversaire dès le premier coup de gong,
s’illustrant par son jeu de jambes et la qualité de son esquive. Mais
les enchaînements d’Abraham touchaient de plus en plus la cible à
partir de la 5e reprise et ses coups étaient de plus en plus lourds.

« Je ne m’attendais pas à un Abraham aussi puissant, concédait
Bouadla. Je pensais pouvoir placer des contres mais face à une telle
puissance, il fallait que je me protège ».

Saoulé de coups dès l’entame de la 8e reprise, le Français se
retrouvait à genoux de fatigue, sans toutefois être compté, avant que
l’arbitre n’examine son `il et décide de mettre fin au combat.

A 32 ans, Abraham, surnommé `King Arthur` durant son règne chez les
moyens entre 2005 et 2009, a signé sa 36e victoire, la 28 avant la
limite, d’un palmarès entaché de 3 défaites.

Il s’agissait de la première défense d’un titre conquis le 25 août
dernier en détrônant son compatriote Robert Steglitz aux points.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 16 décembre 2012,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

CONSTITUTION IS THE GUARANTEE OF PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Thursday, 13 December 2012 09:46
Interview of NKR Minister of Justice Ararat DANIYELIAN
to Azat Artsakh newspaper

– Mr. Daniyelian, in due time, you were a member of the state
commission on elaborating the draft Constitution of the NKR. Today,
six years after the adoption of the Constitution, how would you assess
its significance for the process of state-building in the Republic?
– Constitution as the Basic Law of a state is adopted in crucial
periods of its history. Adopting its Constitution, a state wants to
legally endorse the achievements at a certain stage of development,
particularly when it concerns democratic reforms.
The adoption of our Constitution in 2006 was the logical culmination
of the process of laying the foundations of our statehood, which
started after the proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in
1991. A new page in the history of our Republic was opened, that is,
our constitutional history started. Like any Constitution, the Basic
Law of our country is a reference point in determining the direction
of sustainable development and consolidation of the statehood.
It should be noted that not all the constitutional provisions are in
demand immediately. A certain part of them comes into force easily and
is often used, while other provisions are realized with the passage of
time. Life itself dictates the need to apply to certain constitutional
provisions. Thus, in accordance with paragraph 5 of Article 7 of the
Constitution, international treaties are part of the NKR legal system.
However, only recently, we have started the process of unilateral
adherence to international treaties and conventions and their
ratification. First, this confirms our commitment to the values
assumed by us, and secondly, it will contribute to the international
recognition of our Republic. Importantly, it will allow our citizens
to fully protect their rights and freedoms within the state, which
assumes the corresponding commitments. In other words, thanks to this,
the legal basis for protecting human rights and freedoms is expanding
and strengthening. The shortest way to the recognition of our Republic
by the progressive international community, which does not need great
expenses, is the increase of the level of human rights protection.
The Constitution is a factor ensuring the stability in the society and
in the state in general. Because the adoption of the Constitution,
first of all, limits the powers of the authorities, or, in fact, the
power and officials may perform only those actions, for which they are
authorized by the Constitution. Given this fact, the Basic Law is
unacceptable to subject to frequent changes – this will not lead to
anything good.
The Constitution, as the basis for the legislation, regulates the
current public relations; however, in terms of the prospects, it is a
document of the future, since the implementation of some of its
provisions and rules takes time. To establish a firm deadline for
bringing the acting legislation in correspondence with the
Constitution is not quite right, because life itself dictates and
introduces its adjustments.
– The legislation of any state, including the Constitution itself, is
not something given once and for all and is not dogmatic. Along with
life it develops, undergoing certain changes. How is the lawmaking
process going on in the Republic, and is the entire legislative basis
brought in correspondence with the requirements of the NKR Basic Law?
– As is known, before the constitutional referendum in 2006, the
Parliament of our country adopted over 600 laws. Article 141 of the
NKR Constitution provides for bringing the legislation into conformity
with the Basic Law. For the years passed, much has been done to
accomplish this task. In particular, the list of laws to be brought
into conformity with the Constitution’s provisions was determined.
But, this is a long process, as it depends on how actively the
provisions of the Constitution are applied. Or, life itself confirms
the validity of any law provisions. Simple comparison of laws with the
Constitution cannot fully determine the constitutionality of any legal
act. The implementation of any constitutional provisions should be
dictated by life, or the theoretical provisions should be reflected in
the law enforcement practice.
– The NKR Constitution declares the fundamental human rights and
freedoms as inalienable and supreme values. As for its applied nature,
can we state that the Basic Law of our Republic actually guarantees
the citizens’ exercise of their rights and advocates their interests?
– Chapter 2 of the NKR Constitution is devoted to the fundamental
rights, freedoms and duties of the citizens. The reflection of these
rights and freedoms in the Constitution is in itself a constitutional
guarantee of the declared rights and freedoms. However, their mere
provision by the Constitution is not enough, and a mechanism of
enforcing these rights is needed. The most important factor in the
restoration of the citizens’ violated rights and freedoms are judicial
guarantees.
In the protection of the rights and freedoms, of great importance is
the constitutional culture, which involves a set of social values
and institutions, a certain level of social and legal consciousness.
The citizens’ knowledge of their constitutional rights increases the
effectiveness of their protection. From this point of view, the
institute of individual consideration of a constitutional claim is an
efficient means. Thus, paragraph 2.6 of Article 114 of the
Constitution provides for the appeal of each person to the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court with an individual claim
on a concrete case, when a final act of the court is available, all
the means of court protection are exhausted, and the constitutionality
of the provisions of the normative act, which is applied to it by the
act of the court, is challenged.
But, in practice, this constitutional provision is not acting for the
simple reason that none of the citizens has enjoyed this right so far.
Meanwhile, this institute contributes to raising the level of legal
awareness and constitutionalization of public relations. In the
process of state-building, we must seek the establishment of
constitutional democracy in the Republic, which supposes real
separation of the power branches, with the active role of
constitutional juridical proceedings. Constitutionalism requires such
public relations, in which the power and officials are authorized to
do only what is defined by law, and the citizens can do anything not
prohibited by law.
Defining human rights and freedoms as the highest values, the
Constitution thus takes as the basis the natural and legal doctrine.
It limits the claims of the state to determine on its own the scope of
rights and freedoms of an individual, ignoring the set of rights,
which are needed for his normal life and are objectively inherent to
him from his birth.

Interviewed by
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

The 15-thousand visitor to Artsakh

Friday, 14 December 2012 20:59

Today, at the NKR MFA Consular Service, an entry visa was granted to
the 15-thousand tourist of the year of 2012, 24-year-old Nguyen David
Hung, citizen of the Australian state of New South Wales.

In this connection, NKR MFA Chief of Staff Semyon Afiyan handed in a
Visitor’s Certificate and other memorable gifts to Nguyen David Hung.

According to the NKR MFA Consular Service, for the period of
January-November 2012, the number of visitors to the Republic
increased by more than 33 percent, compared to the same period of
2011.

NKR MFA Press Service

Armenian Attorney General reveals problems during investigation of
some criminal cases

December 14, 2012 | 21:17

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Attorney General Aghvan Hovsepyan has convened a
consultation on Friday regarding observed abuses of allocation from
the State Budget intended for the reconstruction of works of the
National Library, as well as two schools in Armenia’s Shirak Region
and Masis city. As a result of the criminal cases instigated on the
issue, some problems raised regarding their investigation.

The Attorney General claimed that some problems were risen during
their investigation, which are concerning. It is due to the fact that
allocations from the State Budget were not used properly and
disappeared due to improper task implementation. At the same time, the
most important issue is the seismic resistance of those buildings.

During the consultations, Hovsepyan assigned Police Investigative Main
Department to secure multisided, full and objective investigation.

Armenian FM to depart for Brussels to ink visa-facilitation deal

December 15, 2012 – 18:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will depart for
Brussels to attend EU – Armenia Cooperation Council meeting, due Dec
17. Armenia and EU will sign a visa facilitation agreement on December
17, RA MFA pres service reported.
The head of the Armenian representation to EU, Ambassador Avet Adonts
and European Commission Director General for Development Stefano
Manservisi signed preliminary agreements Dec 18 on facilitation of
Armenia-EU visa regime and readmission in Brussels.
The finalized agreements are expected to be ratified in the first half
year of 2013.
The first agreement envisages facilitation of Schengen visa
requirements for Armenian citizens, as well as more lenient terms for
EU travel for Armenian officials, journalists, sportsmen, etc.
Readmission agreement will regulate the return and readmission for
those living in EU and Armenia without permission.

An Interview with Actress and Makeup Blogger Teni Panosian
Posted by Lilly Torosyan

December 14, 2012

Teni Panosian has starred as a neck-biting vampire in The Wanted’s
music video for their hit single, `Chasing the Sun,’ and as Nick
Carter’s love interest in the video for his song, `Love Can’t Wait.’
She is one of 12 actors who was chosen for the 2011 Disney ABC
Television Group Talent Showcase, and is a two-time graduate of the
University of Southern California (USC), where she received a master’s
degree in communication management. Panosian has taken her writing
skills online by blogging about beauty secrets and posting tutorial
videos on all things fashion-related under her YouTube channel,
`MissMavendotcom.’ She recently spoke with the Armenian Weekly about
her work, both on and off screen.

Teni Panosian
***

Lilly Torosyan: How did you get the idea to start your blog? Was it
successful from the beginning?

Teni Panosian: The idea came up during my last semester of graduate
school. I always knew I wanted to write, whether for a living or not,
and having just gone through an incredible master’s program at USC
(also my alma mater), I had this new-found confidence and decided to
take the leap. I started the blog with the intention of monetizing it
and turning it into a business, which is not typical of most bloggers.
Usually, it starts out as just a hobby. As with most blogs, it took a
while to gain the following it needed. But I’m happy to say that,
almost two years later, it’s doing wonderfully!

LT: As an actress, you have appeared in several music videos and
commercials. How was the experience of working on a movie set for `Mac
& Devin Go to High School’?

TP: It wasn’t my first time working on a feature film, but it was my
first time playing a lead role, so I was definitely nervous to begin
with. Thankfully it was a comedy, so there was a lot of room to
`play,’ so to speak, in the scenes. Most importantly I worked with
great people, so no complaints here!

LT: You are also an animal rights activist. When did you make the
decision to become a vegetarian and fight for the animal cause?

TP: Like most people, I wasn’t aware of how animals are treated in
shelters, farms, and labs, among other places. It all began with my
Christmas gift in 2009: My parents bought me a chihuahua (my beloved
Bambi) from a local pet store. Yes, bought. Neither I nor my parents
had any clue about the overpopulation in shelters (most especially in
Los Angeles), but once Bambi became the love of my life, I quickly
started educating myself. I think once I found how much I could love
this little being, all the other dogs and cats in the world quickly
found their place in the front of my mind!

And from that came the logical deduction that if I care so much about
dogs and cats, how can I continue to eat cows and pigs? So there
sprang the vegetarian diet. And from then on, I just started spreading
the word and educating people about shelter animals and, now, animals
in factory farms and testing labs. As I suspected, most people simply
were not aware of this stuff.

Outside of raising awareness, I’ve also fostered many dogs (and have
added one to my little family) and raised money for the cause. On a
happy note, the pet store that my parents bought Bambi from turned
into a rescue-only pet store shortly after.

LT: Any projects in the future that we can expect to find you in?

TP: Well, the pilot season is coming up at the beginning of the year,
so keep your fingers crossed for me!

LT: What are you reading right now?

TP: I’d love to share what I’m currently reading: I highly recommend
Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind – it’s a fascinating look into
morality and human nature in general. I could go on about it but just
trust me and make this your next read.

LT: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

TP: I’d like to say it’s my hope that I’ll be able to continue to
raise awareness not just for animal rights but for compassion and
humanity toward each other as human beings. I know that my job is so
much about material and superficial things – which we have every right
to enjoy – but it is and should always be a small part of this life.
There are so many other important things I’m passionate about, and I
hope that I can share that.

For more information about Panosian, visit To
read her blog, visit

Armenia is ready to strongly respond to any adventurism aimed against
our security. Serzh Sargsyan

13:44, 15 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: Nagorno-Karabakh issue must be
resolved only in peaceful and negotiating way. Armenpress quoted
incumbent President of Armenia, RPA leader Serzh Sargsyan as saying
during 14th RPA extraordinary congress. Head of State underlined that
Armenia was ready to strongly respond to any aggression and
adventurism aimed at our security. `Taking into account Azerbaijani
destructive policy, statements, daily threat of force use we will
spare no effort to strengthen the security of Nagorno-Karabakh people’
Serzh Sargsyan declared.

Expressing gratitude for the contribution and efforts of OSCE Minsk
Group aimed at the peaceful settlement of NKR conflict Armenian
President noted that he would grab the attention of mediators and
international community at the issues concerning the creation of trust
means which would make the peaceful settlement possible.

`Azerbaijani policy in general, particularly refusal of implementation
of mechanism investigating incidents on the contact line, proclaiming
perpetrators as a hero, xenophobia and racism encouraging, not
trustful and two-faced behavior in the negotiation process, all these
have nothing to do with promoting creation of trust means and opposite
are straining the situation in region’ Serzh Sargsyan said.

According to President having efficient and constructive negotiations
will be possible only in case of complete secure atmosphere in the
region and the international guarantees excluding its violation.

RPA officially nominated Serzh Sargsyan’s candidacy with the slogan
`Towards secure Armenia’

14:44, 15 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENIA: It was unanimously decided to nominate
the candidacy of incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan during 14th
extraordinary congress of Republican Party of Armenia with slogan
`Towards secure Armenia’.

Presidential elections of the Republic of Armenia will take place on
February 18, 2013. In accordance with the current information
incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan, leader of `Heritage’ party Raffi
Hovhannisyan, former member of ARF Hovik Aghazaryan, NSU leader Paruyr
Hayrikyan and Vardan Sedrakyan are running the running mates at the
moment.

`2012 Declaration’: A History of Seized Armenian Properties in Istanbul
by Raffi Bedrosyan
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

December 6, 2012

After two years of painfully detailed research through thousands of
documents, the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul has produced a
monumental work on the history and present status of the properties
that once belonged to the Armenian charitable foundations in
Istanbul – properties that were all seized by the Turkish government
during the last few decades. The comprehensive study, some 400 pages
long, for the first time compiles a list of the seized properties,
illustrating the overall picture and enormity of the plunder suffered
by the Armenian schools, orphanages, churches, and hospitals in
Istanbul that were dependent on the property income for survival.

Map 1
The book’s title, 2012 Declaration, is a reference to the Turkish
state’s 1936 Declaration ordering all minority charitable foundations
to list their assets and properties. During the height of the Cyprus
crisis in 1975, the state arbitrarily legislated that any properties
that were obtained by minority charitable foundations after 1936
through donations, inheritance, wills, and gifts, were deemed illegal,
since they had not been listed in the 1936 Declaration. 2012
Declaration makes reference to this illogical legislation and exposes
the legalized but unlawful seizure, or state robbery, that took place
years ago, and the recent small steps taken to undo the gross
injustice.

The book is not a mere historical document providing an inventory of
physical properties, or statistical records and legal statements.
Rather, it is a story of enormous human suffering, ranging from
children being thrown out of their schools, to orphans no longer being
able to find a home; the most tragic story involves the seizure of a
summer camp complex of buildings literally constructed by orphan
children (including Hrant Dink himself) by the Turkish state, to be
sold to Turkish individuals.

The four members of the Hrant Dink Foundation – Mehmet Polatel, Nora
Mildanoglu, Ozgur Leman Eren, and Mehmet Atilgan – sifted through the
patriarchate, church, and school archives, government deeds and title
records, foundation lawyers’ personal archives, old maps and surveys,
purchase and sale agreements, and Hrant Dink’s own research files, to
produce this concise history of each charitable foundation, including
the location and type of properties gifted to each foundation and then
seized by the state, and more than 200 photographs. The most
heart-breaking aspect of this historic document are surely the
photographs, some of which are reprinted here. The research team’s
attempts to obtain documents from government offices, however, were
mostly unsuccessful, even though they were equipped with the force of
legislation called the Freedom of Information Act; they were told that
the 1915-25 era deed and title records of the Armenians are still not
open to the public, due to the official paranoia that exists, defined
as `threats to state security.’

This article will attempt to summarize the 400-page document and give
some striking examples of Istanbul-Armenian history.

***

First, some excerpts from book’s Introduction Section: `This book is
not the story of seized buildings made of stone or cement, but the
story of flesh-and-bone human beings. These seized institutions and
buildings were the cherished belongings of human beings rich and poor,
young and old, men and women, who had worked hard to create or acquire
them. These unjustly seized buildings gave life to the schools,
churches, orphanages, and retirement homes of the whole community. The
social and cultural fabric of the Turkish-Armenians depended on this
economic foundation. It is our wish that similar injustices will not
be carried into the future, as people read in this book the documented
`why’ and `how’ of the attempts to wipe out the life and culture of
our community. The issue is not only the seizure or return of the
properties, but understanding this dimension of history and passing it
on to future generations. As long as the ancestral people of these
lands are marginalized or defined as `others,’ as long as minorities
are not seen as equal citizens, the democratization efforts in Turkey
will be stunted. It is our wish that this study will contribute to
facing history.’

The book then lists the Armenian charitable foundations and their
assets. There were 53 Armenian charitable foundations in Istanbul,
administering 18 schools and orphanages, 48 churches, 2 hospitals, and
20 cemeteries of the Istanbul-Armenian community, supported by the
rental revenue and assets that they owned or received through wills
and gifts. These foundations owned 1,328 properties, of which 661 were
seized by the state for several different reasons. The study could not
determine the fate of 87 properties. After exhausting all legal means
available to get back the seized properties from the state through the
Turkish courts, over the last 10 years some of the foundations have
taken their cases to the European Human Rights Court. As they began to
win all of their cases, and since the European court decisions were
binding on Turkey through European Union accession expectations, the
Turkish state recently decided to amend the 1975 legislation related
to the foundations (which had enabled their legal but unlawful
seizure). With an improved piece of legislation, 143 properties, or
about 10.77 percent of the 1,328 properties, have now been returned to
the Armenian foundations.

Map 2
The types of seized properties were residential apartment buildings,
residential apartment units, house dwellings, vacant lots, orchards,
fountains, stores/shops, warehouses, factories, commercial buildings,
office buildings, office units, hospitals, workplaces, summer camps,
churches, schools, and cemeteries.

The `owner status’ of the seized properties are listed as unknown,
municipal government, state treasury, public building, vacant, lost
deed/title, individually owned, owned by other foundation, or owned by
the State General Directorate of Foundations.

The process by which the foundation obtained properties is listed as
follows: donation, will, purchase, by Ottoman Sultan decree. The
process by which the foundation lost properties is listed as follows:
seizure by state, made public by state, sale to individuals or
corporations.

The book explains some of the stories of seizure in great detail. Some
examples are provided below.

Mkhitaryan Bomonti School

This is the tragic story of a 200-year-old Armenian school that ended
up being a tenant in the building it used to own. Nevertheless, it is
a story with a happy ending.

The Armenian Catholic Venice Mkhitarists founded a boys’ school in
1830 in the Pera neighborhood. In order to serve the increased student
population in better educational facilities, the school foundation
decided to move the school to a larger building, and in 1958,
purchased the present site at Sisli-Bomonti neighborhood for 710,000
Turkish liras from a woman named Emine Tevfika Ayasli. The school name
was changed to the Private Bomonti Armenian Catholic Primary School.
In 1979, the State Charitable Foundations Directorate started a court
case against the Armenian school; since this school was not listed in
the 1936 Declaration, they argued, the purchase of the new school
building was illegal. The directorate demanded that the purchase be
cancelled and the building returned to the seller, or the heirs of the
seller. The court accepted the argument, and in 1988 the Appeal Court
turned down the Armenians’ appeal. The school building deed was turned
over to the former owner, who was deceased; as per the directions of
her will, it was deeded to her brothers and to the Ankara Ayas
Municipality. (It is interesting to note that Ayasli’s will was
prepared years after the school building was legally sold to the
Armenian school foundation.) The brothers sold their share of the
building to a construction company specialized in apartment buildings,
named Miltas. In 1998, the Ankara Ayas Municipality entered into a
tenancy agreement with the school and started charging rent. But the
other owner, Miltas, objected to the tenancy agreement and started
court proceedings to have the school vacate the building. In February
1999, Miltas won the case, and the same day the school’s contents
(including students’ desks, library shelves and books, kindergarden
toys and the school piano) were moved outside into the school yard.
Faced with an incredible situation of suddenly having no school in the
middle of the winter, the Armenian parents, in an exceptional fashion,
resorted to civil disobedience, and start camping out in the school
yard. The public outcry forced the mayor of the Istanbul Sisli
Municipality to intervene, and he arranged to buy the shares of
Miltas, the construction company. He also struck an agreement with the
Ayas Municipality to have the school continue to function by paying
rent to the Ayas Municipality. Naturally, the school lost most of its
students after these disturbances and the student population dropped
to 35. Meanwhile, the school foundation went to court to re-claim the
building. In November 2012, two days before the publication of this
book, the court case ended with victory for the Armenian school and
now, the deeds have finally been returned to the Armenian foundation
and the school has stopped paying rent.

Tuzla Armenian Children’s Camp

In the 1950’s, the Armenian Protestant Church in the Gedikpasa
neighborhood of Istanbul served as the arrival point for many poor and
homeless Armenian orphans, especially from Anatolian settlements.
These children, numbering in the 60s, received their education at the
Gedikpasa Armenian Protestant School in the winter under tolerable
conditions, but had nowhere to go during the summers. The church
foundation decided to purchase a vacant treed lot near the Marmara Sea
in the Tuzla municipality for a summer camp for these children. In
October 1962, the purchase was completed from an individual named Sait
Durmaz, and registered in the church title, according to all
applicable legal procedures. From then on, every summer, the children,
aged 8-12, were given the task of building camp buildings, supervised
by a builder named Tuzlali Hasan Kalfa. The children first erected the
poles and the canvas tents they would live in during construction.
Then they dug a water well, taking turns pumping the water needed for
construction. Then the foundations were prepared. Since the sea was
only 500 meters away, they carried all the sand and gravel from the
beach by wheelbarrows. Slowly but surely, over three summers, the
vacant land was transformed into a summer camp complex with buildings,
dormitories, dining halls, play areas, a soccer field, pond, and gym.
The children stocked the pond with frogs and ducks. Armenian boys and
girls learned how to talk, sing, play, cook, and clean together in
Armenian. Hrant Dink was one of those boys; his wife Rakel was one of
those girls.

Happy days came to an end when the State Charitable Foundations
Directorate applied to the courts in February 1979, to reverse the
purchase agreement and have the property returned to its previous
owner, arguing that the Gedikpasa Church Foundation had no right to
purchase the property. After four years of trials, the court cancelled
the summer camp deed and returned the property to its former owner,
Sait Durmaz, including the extraordinary facilities that the children
had constructed. The camp, imprinted in the memory of 1,500 Armenian
children, became abandoned, with rusting bed frames, broken windows,
and overgrown weeds. In 1987, the Appeal Court approved the previous
court decision. The owner sold the camp to new purchasers, who in turn
sold it again. Several court applications by the Armenian foundation
in the 2000’s, and most recently in August 2011, were all turned down.
One of Hrant’s last articles titled `Humanity, I take you to court!=85′
was a solemn cry in the face of this gross injustice.

Kalfayan Orphanage

In 1865, a cholera epidemic in Istanbul left many children behind as
poor orphans. An Armenian nun named Srpuhi Nshan Kalfayan decided to
care of 17 orphan girls, aged 2-10, at her home. She also started
teaching them handcrafts and sewing. These personal efforts led to the
founding of one of the most important Armenian educational
institutions in Istanbul, the Kalfayan Orphanage School. The orphanage
survived until the late 1960’s, when the school building was
expropriated without compensation and demolished, in order to build
the expressways leading to the Bosphorus Bridge crossing between
Europe and Asia. The foundation owned a large parcel of land where it
planned to transfer the orphanage school. The State Charitable
Foundations Directorate argued that since this land was not registered
in the 1936 Declaration, building a new orphanage there could not be
allowed, and that the orphans and their teachers should be
redistributed to other orphanages. Repeated applications did not yield
any results and 150 people, the combined total of orphans and staff,
spent the next 30 years in various dilapidated buildings, until a new
arrangement was made in 1999 to share the school building of the
Semerciyan School in Uskudar.

***

In a previous article in the Armenian Weekly, dated Aug. 31, 2011, and
titled, `Special Report: What is Turkey Returning to the Armenians?’ I
referred to another significant state seizure of Armenian properties.
The Surp Agop Cemetery lands, which was decreed by Ottoman Sultan
Suleiman to the Armenian community in 1550 as a reward to his Armenian
cook, Manuk Karaseferyan of Van, who had uncovered a plot to poison
the emperor by German spies during the siege of Budapest. The cemetery
was used for 400 years until the 1930’s, when the Istanbul
municipality expropriated the lands after years of legal wrangling. At
present, these lands, which have become one of the most valuable and
fashionable districts of Istanbul, are occupied by the State Radio and
Television Headquarters, the Turkish Armed Forces Istanbul
Headquarters, the Military Museum, many expensive hotels such as
Hilton, Regency Hyatt, Divan, and several apartment and office
buildings, as well as the expansive Taksim Park, which has some
walkways made from marble of the Armenian tombstones.

The 2012 Declaration book documents the Armenian properties lost in
Istanbul, mainly during the 1970’s, with the illogical but legal
argument that if the charitable foundations had obtained properties
after 1936, they would be deemed illegal because they had not been
included in the 1936 Declaration. But the extent of this gross
injustice would pale in comparison when we consider the amount of
seized or lost Armenian properties after 1915, not only in Istanbul,
but all over Anatolia, especially in historic Armenia. To illustrate
the sheer enormity of the loss, consider these numbers: There were
more than 4000 Armenian churches and schools in Anatolia, each with
its own land, each with its own income generating additional lands,
properties, and assets. The recently reconstructed Surp Giragos Church
in Diyarbakir had over 200 separate deeds and titles to different
properties such as shops, houses, farms, and orchards, which were
taken over by the government and private individuals, erecting
apartment buildings, office buildings, state schools, shops and
houses, even a highway. Thankfully, the process to take these
properties back has already started in Diyarbakir. The above-mentioned
figures are only for Armenian churches and schools, that is, community
owned buildings. Add to those numbers the properties owned by private
Armenian individuals, such as houses, shops, farms, orchards,
factories, warehouses, mines, and so on, and it becomes quite
difficult to grasp the enormity of this wealth transfer.

No wonder there is resistance in facing history or acknowledging the facts.

To learn more about the book, visit
; it is also available for free from
the Hrant Dink Foundation.

Raffi Bedrosyan is a civil engineer as well as a concert pianist,
living in Toronto, Canada. For the past several years, proceeds from
his concerts and two CDs have been donated to the construction of
school, highway, water, and gas distribution projects in Armenia and
Karabagh – projects in which he has also participated as a voluntary
engineer. Bedrosyan was involved in organizing the Surp Giragos
Diyarbakir/Dikranagerd Church reconstruction project, and in promoting
the significance of this historic project worldwide as the first
Armenian reclaim of church properties in Anatolia after 1915. In
September 2012, he gave the first Armenian piano concert in the Surp
Giragos Church since 1915.