Author: Babajanian Karo

OFFENSIVE FRANCO-TURQUE CONTRE L’EDUCATION NATIONALE.
Jean Eckian

Yalcin Simsek, Conseiller municipal a Saint-Dizier

Lancement d’une petition franco-turque adressee au President de la
republique, intitulee ” Non a la falsification des manuels d’Histoires
des classes de 3ème “.

Reynald Beaufort, Fondateur et vice-president de Turquie Europeenne,
renvoie l’initiateur dans les cordes.

Sous la signature d’un certain Yalcin Simsek -conseiller municipal de
la ville de Saint-Dizier (Haute Marne)- faisant suite a de nombreuses
recriminations de representants et medias de la communaute turque
de France, soutenant le caractère ” falsifie et mensonge ” contenus
dans l’introduction du genocide armenien dans les manuels scolaires,
ce dernier a lance une petition a l’objectif ambitieux de reunir 100
000 signatures negationnistes.

capture d’ecran sur Facebook : cliquer sur le document pour agrandir

Cette petition (ICI) a ete recue samedi (e-mail) pour signature par
Reynald Beaufort qui s’est empresse de repondre dans des termes qu’il
nous a autorise a reproduire ici :

” Bonjour

Veuillez ne plus nous envoyer ce genre de demande. Jamais aucun membre
de cette association ne signera ce genre de petition.

Le genocide armenien est un fait historique etabli et incontestable.

Nous ne ferons pas circuler cette petition et nous nous opposons
formellement a sa signature.

Il est tout a fait scandaleux que l’etat turc continue a nier ses
responsabilites et fasse enseigner dans ses ecoles, lui une histoire
reecrite et falsifiee.

Salutations

Reynald Beaufort Fondateur et vice -president de Turquie Europeenne ”

Le conseiller culturel de Francois Cornut-Gentille (depute-maire UMP
de Saint-Dizier), ancien ouvrier fraiseur-tourneur, a ete naturalise
francais en 1999. Il dirige l’Association culturelle et cultuelle
turque de Saint-Dizier forte de 900 ressortissants d’origine turque,
pour une ville abritant plus de 25000 personnes.

Francois Cornut Gentille est l’un des 3 initiateurs, avec Jacques
Myard et Michel Diefenbacher, de la saisine du Conseil constitutionnel
qui a rejete le texte de loi de Valerie Boyer visant a reprimer la
contestation de l’existence des genocides reconnus par la loi.

On se demande bien quelle mouche a pique les organisations
Franco-turques et certains elus lorsqu’on sait que le genocide armenien
figure dans les manuels d’Histoire depuis deja plusieurs annees, comme
l’a rappele lui-meme Francois Fillon, alors ministre de l’Education
nationale, de l’Enseignement superieur et de la Recherche, dans un
courrier qu’il m’avait adresse au mois de mai 2005.

Monsieur Jean ECKIAN

Le Ministre

Paris le 24 MAI 2005

CAB/BDC/SC/440

Monsieur,

Dans les documents d’accompagnement des programmes d’histoire
des classes de troisième et de premières ES et L portant sur la
première guerre mondiale et ses consequences, le genocide de 1915
est explicitement cite comme ” le premier genocide du siècle “.

Par ailleurs, les occasions de presenter et d’approfondir le sujet
en classe sont nombreuses. Ainsi, la journee commemorative du 27
janvier ou encore le ” Prix des droits de l’homme Rene Cassin ”
permettent aux enseignants d’engager la reflexion sur la notion
meme de genocide a travers l’ensemble des genocides reconnus, et en
particulier le genocide armenien, avec le souci de la connaissance
historique et de la formation citoyenne.

Le devoir de memoire, qui permet de preparer l’avenir en evitant les
erreurs les plus effroyables du passe, fait partie des missions de
l’Education Nationale. L’enseignement francais est donc largement
ouvert a la comprehension de cet episode tragique de l’histoire
humaine que fut le genocide armenien.

Je vous prie d’agreer , Monsieur, l’expression de mes sentiments
les meilleurs.

Francois FILLON

Il est donc plus qu’evident que les demarches negationnistes
s’inscrivent dans la poursuite du deni instaure par Ankara et qu’elles
ne sauraient s’interrompre de sitôt, toutes pathetiques quelles soient.

lundi 10 decembre 2012, Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

IRELAND’S VOCATION

Irish Times
Dec 8 2012

It’s easy to be bewildered by the alphabet soup of multilateral
security and political organisations to which Europeans are affiliated
and which makes up the ramshackle architecture of global co-operation.

There’s the 57-member Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE) whose 19th ministerial conference Dublin has just
hosted to mark the end of our one-year chairmanship. And there’s the
EU (27 members), Nato (28), and its Partnership for Peace (22), the
Council of Europe (47), the United Nations (193), and then the late,
unlamented Western European Union (final demise 2011). One could
arguably also include the Commonwealth and the G8.

Building this house from scratch no architect worth his salt would
have created this monstrosity. And yet, each has in its own right,
despite imperfections, a raison d’etre – if they did not exist it would
probably be necessary to invent them. Or reinvent them, as Ireland
is trying to do in setting out a road map for reform of the OSCE for
its 40th anniversary in 2015. The one radical option not likely to
be on the table, however, would be its merger with the organisation
which most closely mirrors its membership and whose broad purposes
most closely overlap, the Council of Europe. More’s the pity.

Both organisations continue to play crucial roles in benchmarking
human/democratic rights, press freedom, and election standards
in the new post-Stalinist states. And, in particular, the OSCE is
also involved in important mediation efforts in post-Soviet “frozen
conflicts” – Georgia’s secessionist South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan’s dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Moldova’s
breakaway Transdniestria. The Irish chairmanship is reported to have
presided over significant progress on the latter.

Such arduous, tediously slow but subtle work will win few plaudits,
certainly none at home, and does relatively little to promote the
State’s standing internationally, no matter what Ministers might say.

But it is important, worthwhile work that vindicates core values in
Irish foreign policy, a real expression of the meaning of what some
call “active neutrality”.

Irish foreign policy is based on the idea of replacing the anarchy
and dangerous volatility of traditional bilateral relations between
states with a rules-based multilateral order. It is epitomised by
the development and strengthening of the UN as an expression of the
will of the peoples of the world and a means of enforcing collective
security. In the creation of a new global order it behoves those
committed to it to engage, lead, and expend the necessary resources .

This is not an act of vanity.

To suggest, as did Jim Roche, PRO of the Irish Anti-War Movement ,
that it is ironic that neutral Ireland “should be hosting such a
collection of warmongers and abusers of human rights,” is to miss
the point entirely.

NEED FOR OTTOMANISM AT HOME

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 9 2012

[email protected]

Ottomanism is mainly a foreign policy issue in Turkey. Turkey has been
criticized for dealing the neo-Ottomanism card in the Middle East and
the Balkans. However, its value in foreign policy notwithstanding,
Turkey itself needs Ottomanism, and at home at that. Paradoxically,
conservatives, many of whom are happy to insinuate an “Ottomanist”
discourse into foreign policy, seem to consider Ottomanism not
appropriate in domestic politics. Therefore, Ottomanism is a
politically unclaimed agenda at home.

This brings serious questions: Are Turkish conservatives sincerely
Ottomanist in their contemplation of Turkey’s domestic problems? Do
they seriously want to be the heirs of the political legacy of the
Ottomans? Given their reactions to certain issues in Turkish politics,
one could easily get the impression that they are just “talking the
Ottomanism talk,” not making an agenda of it.

Ottomanism is first about multiculturalism. The Ottomans were proud
champions of multiculturalism. They thought monoculturalism a serious
threat, to the point that they made efforts to have different religious
and ethnic groups make up the populations of their cities. Ottoman
Ä°stanbul was not a Turkish city; instead, it was a multicultural
“imperial” city. Every great Ottoman monarch of the cut of Mehmet
the Conqueror would be deeply sad to see that the Ä°stanbul of today
has lost its multicultural characteristic. In sharp contrast with the
Ottomans, the contemporary conservative champions of Ottomanism have
a deep fear of multiculturalism. Anatolia is facing the serious risk
of losing its historical multicultural nature.

The Ottomans were happy to recognize the local laws of different
groups. An Ottoman statesman would never have understood why the
Halki Orthodox seminary is still closed. An Ottoman statesman would
never have understood why there are still no Kurdish traffic signs in
cities populated by Kurds. The Ottoman state mind, which somehow ruled
a large geographic area from the Balkans to Yemen, would have laughed
at Turkish statesmen in Ankara for failing to govern Diyarbakır.
Abdulhamit II would most probably have deemed the Turkish strategy
in the Kurdish problem a total fiasco.

The Ottomans were a practical people who exuded political wisdom. They
never forced the same model on different places or societies, for
their wisdom led them to alternative solutions for Kurds, Armenians,
Muslims, etc. They were not sticklers for state principles. Instead,
they were open to changing the state to accommodate the needs of the
people. In sharp contrast, a state fetishism exists in Turkey today,
even among the conservatives.

I do not want to be trapped by anachronism. However, the Ottomans
never believed in centralism. Delegating authority to the periphery
was a central Ottoman state principle. The Turkish Republic is totally
different. For that reason, the issue of the unitary state should
be re-evaluated. The Turkish Republic is probably the first unitary
state in the whole of Turkish history. Again venturing towards the
trap of anachronism, I would argue that neither the Seljuks nor the
Ottomans lived according to an administrative logic like that of the
statesmen of the Turkish Republic.

Some would say that we are living in the age of the nation-state,
thus the comparison of the Ottoman state and the Turkish Republic
is invalid. My answer is as simple as this: The Flemish region can
conduct an independent foreign policy; the city state of Hamburg can
appoint a delegation to Brussels. What Turks want to realize does
not exist in the developed Western world. What we understand to be
the modern state is totally a national illusion. Ironically, many
Europeans are closer to the Ottoman model than is the Turkish state.

Who are the claimers of the Ottoman political legacy? Ottomanism is now
reduced to the love of Ottoman monarchs. Conservatives have so far used
the Ottomans for pedagogical purposes. They were held up as examples
of perfection to young boys and girls, who were urged to emulate
them. There is nothing wrong with that. However, it is now time for
conservatives to also emulate the Ottomans in their national politics.

FROM 2012, EU CITIZENS CAN GO TO ARMENIA WITHOUT VISA

The Baltic Course
Dec 10 2012

Petras Vaida, BC, Vilnius, 10.12.2012

As of January 10 of 2013, Lithuanian citizens will be able to go to
Armenia without visa, only with a valid passport.

As of January 10, Armenia’s decree will come into force introducing
visa-free regime to all citizens of the European Union (EU), including
Lithuania, writes LETA/ELTA.

Last year, Lithuania and Armenia celebrated 20 years anniversary of
the diplomatic relations. Lithuanian Embassy has been operating in
Yerevan since 2007, whereas Armenian Embassy was opened in Vilnius
on January 26 of 2012.

TSARUKYAN’S SILENCE

Vestnik Kavkaza
Dec 10 2012
Russia

Author: Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan, exclusively to VK

The main intrigue in the political life of Armenia remains the question
of the nomination of the leader of the “Prosperous Armenia” Party
(PAP), Gagik Tsarukyan, as a candidate for president. About three
weeks ago, Tsarukyan said: “These important decisions are not made
at the last minute and without any preparation. I’ve already made a
decision. Another issue is that the electoral law allows me not to
announce my decision. I will use this right.”

Sources close to the PAP claim that the long-awaited declaration will
be made after the congress of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), on December 15. The position of Tsarukyan, who clearly does
not want to make specific statements, caused nervousness in the
domestic political field. Government experts and representatives of
the Republican Party are vying to claim the support of the PAP for
incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan in the upcoming February 2013
presidential election, an unequivocal victory for Sargsyan and even
the inexpediency of Tsarukyan’s participation in the elections. The
chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, an MP from the Republican
Party Khosrov Harutyunyan, for example, advised the leader of the
PAP to do party building and not to be a candidate for president.

The director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute, Alexander
Markarov, is in no doubt that the current president will win in the
upcoming election: “The results of the parliamentary elections provide
a basis for the assumption of the victory of Serzh Sargsyan.” The
former Foreign Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arman Melikyan, said “the
power system has two distinct poles, and one of them is an artificial
one. So no matter what the PAP is doing – it will contribute to the
continued existence of the system of government, and therefore the PAP
itself. The latter in any case will support the incumbent president,
no matter whether it will promote its candidate or not.”

The media have also contributed to the overall atmosphere of
nervousness. The site “168.am” wrote that the silence of Tsarukyan
made Sargsyan nervous, and he gave the PAP leader two days to make
a statement. A number of other state-controlled media are actually
blackmailing Tsarukyan and hint that some facts from his distant youth
will be published, and this may adversely affect his image. Meanwhile,
sources close to the PAP spread information that, if such blackmail
continues, the PAP will make counter publications, the impact of
which will be much greater. These publications will not deal with
the personal life of Sargsyan but with some fragments of his work
in 1990-1994. The electronic publication “Zham.am”, controlled by
the PAP, indicated that some of the publications “may shock Armenian
society if the public know how and with whom Sargsyan collaborated
during this period.”

The overall tone of many of the statements suggests that the upcoming
competition will be very tough and will take place between Gagik
Tsarukyan and Serzh Sargsyan. “The election campaign is under way,
though it has not officially begun. Today two issues are the most
interesting: whether Tsarukyan will run, and in the case of his
participation, how actively he would conduct his campaign in order to
really compete with Serzh Sargsyan,” the director of the “Caucasus”
Institute Alexander Iskandaryan said.

Some of Tsarukyan’s weird behavior can be explained by natural
processes in the political field. There is a clearly-visible
convergence of views on the most important issues between the radical
opposition – the Armenian National Congress (ANC) – and the PAP. Both
these forces have voted against the draft law on the State Budget
for 2013. The PAP has supported a number of initiatives by the ANC,
including the project of forming a new parliamentary commission
studying the events of March 1, the initiative to apply to the
Constitutional Court about the boycott by the parliamentary majority
of the extraordinary session of the National Assembly on November 21,
initiated by the ANC. At that meeting, in order to improve electoral
processes the ANC planned to present a number of important amendments
to the Electoral Code, the Criminal Code and the law “On the State
Register.”

Now there are consultations between the ANC, the PAP, the ARFD and
other opposition parties, like”Heritage” and the “Free Democrats”. The
head of the central office of the ANC, Levon Zurabyan, said that the
second stage of political consultations is beginning, during which
issues related to the format of the party in the elections will be
discussed, including the specific nominations for president. The ANC
candidate will be Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Two
years ago, during one of the rallies, he said that he would run as
a candidate for the presidential election if the second president,
Robert Kocharyan, also runs. However, there are no signs yet that he
will participate in the election, so it is possible that Ter-Petrosyan
also will not do so.

With this in mind, the ANC can support another candidate. Alexander
Iskandaryan believes that the ANC will support the candidature of
Tsarukyan. With the participation of the ANC in the elections, this
power can only get a small percentage of votes. “In the parliamentary
elections the ANC won 7%, and in the presidential elections this 7%
definitely will not turn into 50%,” the analyst said.

Naturally, the ANC will support the PAP leader on certain political
conditions that may be related to ensuring that Tsarukyan is ready
to make fundamental changes in the extremely difficult political and
socio-economic situation in the country. Perhaps the ANC and its leader
will help Tsarukyan, who has more support in a number of regions, to
conquer the capital. Most likely, the ANC will influence the voters
in Yerevan who do not consider themselves supporters of Tsarukyan.

.

DASHNAKTSUTYUN SAYS IT DID NOT NEGOTIATE WITH HHK

04:37 PM | TODAY | POLITICS

We have said from the very first day that we are going to consult with
everyone, including the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), says Hrant
Margaryan, a senior representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau.

Saturday’s meeting between Serzh Sargsyan and ARF-Dashnaktsutyun
representatives gave rise to different interpretations in media. Many
concluded that ARF-Dashnaktsutyun would not join the opposition in
fielding a joint candidate in February’s presidential election.

“We did not negotiate with the president; we had consultations with
him,” said Hrant Margaryan. “Nor did we negotiate with the other
parties or discuss with them their stances, political background or
their participation in the presidential election to be held in 3-4
months. We tried to reach agreements on the new agendas. Regarding
our relations with the HHK, I must say that we referred to it on the
very first day, saying that we only had consultations with the ruling
party. We do not want to have hostile relations with them.”

Ceremony of commemoration of Spitak earthquake victims was held in Moscow

19:53, 10 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. On December 9 a requiem service was
given in St. Harutyun Church of Moscow in memory of more than 25.000
innocent people, who became victims of the devastating earthquake of
Spitak in 1988.

The Department of Press, Information, and Public Relations of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia informed
“Armenpress” that Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the Russian
Federation Oleg Yesayan, a number of representatives of community
organizations and local media partook in the requiem service.

Prelate of the Armenian Diocese of Nor Nakhijevan and Russia, His
Eminence Bishop Yezras Nersisyan appealed to the attendees with a call
to consolation, benignity and unity.

At the end of the requiem service the attendees put flowers at the
Cross-stone erected in the memory of the victims of 1988 earthquake.

ARMENIA’S PM MEETS LOS ANGELES MAYOR

news.am
December 10, 2012 | 13:39

YEREVAN. – Within the framework of his working visit to the United
States, Armenian Premier Tigran Sargsyan met with Mayor of Los Angeles,
Antonio Villaraigosa, on December 8.

The Los Angeles mayor underscored the Armenians’ involvement in the
city’s everyday life. Also, Sargsyan and Villaraigosa discussed the
prospects for cooperation, and made arrangement on creating a joint
working group that will be engaged in cooperation programs.

The formal meeting was followed by the Los Angeles mayor’s reception
in honor of Armenia’s PM, Armenian Government press service informs.

On the same day, Tigran Sargsyan also met with members from the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun Party’s US chapter and its sister organizations. “We
have many problems to resolve, and which are better seen from the
outside. At the same time, the people require from the homeland that
these problems are resolved as soon as possible. On the one hand,
it is difficult for the authorities, but, on the other hand, I am
glad because this dissatisfaction means we have great potential and
we will achieve success,” the Premier specifically said.

During the reception, Tigran Sargsyan introduced the Armenian
government’s activities and reforms that are undertaken, and its
planned activities and vision.

SERZH SARGSYAN IS PREPARING FIRST VICTIM
Naira Hayrumyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

10:53 10/12/2012

Corruption scandals follow each other in Russia. Experts say it
is related to some inter-clan fight. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri
Medvedev, in response to the question whether those scandals would
not impact the prestige of the power, said it is inevitable. In other
words, Medvedev confessed that someone needs to be sacrificed, and the
“clan” members are the necessary victims.

War against corruption was announced in Armenia as well. True, the
parliament, for some reason, didn’t approve the ANC anti-corruption
initiative to work out a new strategy. More, it was found out that
the ministry of economy is currently working out a new anti-corruption
strategy.

But the important is that the anti-corruption fight in Armenia is
moving forward without victims. It seems the reason is there is no
inter-clan fight in Armenia so there is no one to sacrifice. But,
apparently, soon, Serzh Sargsyan will have to make a big sacrifice
to save his prestige.

The first information on Gagik Tsarukyan’s visit to Brussels reported
PAP leader had said it is impossible to fight corruption in Armenia
because it is led by the corrupt government. This caused RPA’s nervous
response, so the next information on Tsarukyan’s visit contained no
such an affirmation.

Apparently, Gagik Tsarukyan understood he could become the victim of
the “anti-corruption fight” for which Serzh Sargsyan may find many
grounds. If Tsarukyan enters into confrontation with Serzh Sargsyan
and accuses him of being corrupt, the fight in Armenia will also
become inter-clan and Tsarukyan will be the victim.

He knows this, so he stated he is not afraid of losing his property.

But here the point may be not only about the property, but also freedom
and image. Tsarukyan has put himself in such a situation where each
his step takes him closer to the end of his political carrier.

His nomination under the conditions of confrontation will make him
the victim of the “anti-corruption” fight. Serzh Sargsyan’s support
will help him keep his property temporarily, but he will have to
leave politics and lose property.

The only way out is a possible agreement with Serzh Sargsyan according
to which Tsarukyan runs and so he does not allow Oskanian to run hence
“blockading” Kocharyan’s attempts, receives 30% and congratulates
Sargsyan for his victory.

2.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS BORDER BETWEEN ARMENIA AND NAKHIJEVAN

Panorama.am
10/12/2012

A 2.6 magnitude earthquake hit Armenia-Nakhijevan border, 24 km
south-east of the town of Vedi at 01.09 local time on December 9,
National Seismic Protection Service of Armenian Emergency Ministry
said.

The earthquake’s hypocenter was located at a depth of 10 km. The
tremors were measured at 3 in the epicenter, Emergency Channel
Information Center of Emergency Ministry said.