Author: Babajanian Karo

PRESS
Ottawa Unveils a Monument to a Turkish Diplomat Shot, while Armenians
remember the Genocide

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu (left to right)
Ayla Alikat, widow of Colonel Attila Altikat; diplomat shot and
Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, standing before a monument in
Ottawa, Thursday, Sept. 20 2012, after the ceremony.

The Canadian Press

Posted Thursday, September 20, 2012 8:43

OTTAWA – The Harper government announced Thursday a controversial
monument dedicated to fallen diplomats, where a Turkish diplomat was
shot in Ottawa thirty years ago, an attack attributed to Armenian
terrorists.

The monument of wood and metal and cone is dedicated to Colonel Atilla
Altikat, military attache killed the Turkish Embassy, ??and is also
designed to commemorate all the diplomats shot.

Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird referred to the recent
assassination of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three members of
the embassy, ??while unveiling the monument with his Turkish
counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited Ottawa for the occasion.

The monument symbolizes the same time an olive branch that Canada
tends to Turkey in a blur compensation born in 2006, when the
government decided to recognize the killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks during the First World War World were constitutive of genocide.

This gesture had angered Turkey, a NATO ally, and had caused the
temporary withdrawal of its ambassador in Ottawa.

“” The monument today demonstrates the positive feelings the Canadian
government to respect our losses. But obviously, the criminals who
killed the terrorists who killed our colonel here have not been
arrested or found. The investigation is ongoing, “Davutoglu said
Thursday.

Davutoglu has developed the position of his government consisting of
the creation of a commission of historians to discuss with Armenian
historical events that occurred on this subject. He said it was
“unacceptable” that a nation is accused of genocide.

“If Canada wants to contribute to reconciliation between Turks and
Armenians, the best way is to contribute to the creation of these
joint committees, speaking to both parties for a fair and just memory
and working together,” said Davutoglu .

Baird has not turned his back to the previous position of his
government, but was in favor of dialogue on this topic.

Baird said appreciate the various sensitivities are also at stake.

Baird said the internal assessment of the foreign policy conduct last
year had identified Turkey as a major player in the world, and as a
country that Canada should be observed closely.

“Turkey is playing a more effective role in diplomacy, said Baird. “Ls
are good partners for Canada. ‘

The monument was designed and built in Turkey and sent to Canada under
close escort.

“Sadly, Turkey and Canada have lost all talented and distinguished
diplomats in these senseless acts of violence directed against our
country,” said Baird.

“Recent events prove tragically. The dangers faced by diplomats and
public servants positions abroad are still an unfortunate reality. ‘

Canadian Armenians were pleased with the recognition of the Genocide
in 2006 by the government.

Thursday’s visit Davutoglu created a stir in the Armenian National
Committee of Canada, asking Baird to call Turkey to change its policy
on human rights, in particular the constant denial of the Armenian
Genocide Turkey.

The organization noted the report of Amnesty International in 2012,
which mentions a lack of constitutional reforms and flaws in the
anti-terrorism laws.

“Canada should not overlook the contempt shown by several centuries
Turkey against human rights,” said GIRAIR Basmadjian, the committee
chairman in a statement.

“Canada must condemn attempts by Turkey to deny the historical truth
of Genocide. ‘

Gilbert translation Béguian

Friday, September 28, 2012,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 27 2012

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict discussed in U.S.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has met with the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen in New York, Armenian news agency Mediamax
reported.

The meeting focused on the negotiation process over Nagorno-Karabakh,
the ministry told Mediamax.

The Armenian Foreign Minister also met with U.S Assistant Secretary of
State Philip Gordon. They have discussed bilateral relations, the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the situation in the peace
process.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France and the U.S. – are
currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

MilAz.info, Azerbaijan
Sept 27 2012

MP Dr.Peter Gauweiler, member of the Foreign Affaires Committee:’
Armenia further fuels the fire of the conflict’

16:10 27-09-2012

`The allegations from the official Armenian side, that the actions of
the Hungarian Government are affecting the situation in the South
Caucasus and are threatening the peace talks between Armenia and
Azerbaijan are absolutely groundless and have to be entirely rejected.

Actually it is the Armenian reactions on the international level that
risk diplomatic channels and disturb peace talks’, said MP Dr.Peter
Gauweiler, member of the Foreign Affaires Committee, APA reports
quoting TEAS. He expressed that `the totally exaggerated allegations
against our friend and partner Hungary are in extreme contrast to
those actions of Armenia that directly break international law. It is
not the release of Ramil Safarov but the recent one-sided
internationally illegal so called `presidential elections’ in the
internationally not recognized region of Nagorno Karabakh which is a
threat to the fragile cease-fire.
The fact that Armenia signed an agreement with Russia in August 2010
about closer military collaboration and the fact that Russia maintains
own military bases in Armenia clearly show the military potential of
the region. If, in this very context, Armenia further fuels the fire
of the conflict, we better start doubting whether Armenia is committed
to peace’.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 28 2012

Armenians snub mayor’s call for return

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu

Prominent members of Armenian diaspora reject Diyarbakır Mayor’s
invitation to Armenians whose ancestors were forced to flee in 1915 to
return to the city

Various well-known names among the Armenian diaspora have reacted
negatively Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir recent invitation to
Armenians and other non-Muslim peoples, whose ancestors lived in the
southeastern province before they were forced to flee during the
events of 1915, to return to the city.

Ara Sarafyan, the director of the Gomidas Institute in London, and
whose family’s origins lie in the Turkish provinces of Yozgat and
ElazıÄ?, was among those to react to Baydemir’s invitation.

`Baydemir’s call is not enough. And what is more, it could be
manipulated by the Turkish nationalists.

Even though the intention is good, Baydemir is a politician above
all,’ Sarafyan said, adding that a considerable part of the diaspora
has its origins in Diyarbakır. `As in most provinces, Armenians were
also massacred in Diyarbakır. Why should they return to the city they
left with great pain?’

`An Armenian, an Assyrian and a Chaldean, whose grandfathers or
great-grandfathers were born in Diyarbakır, have the same right to
live in Diyarbakır as I have, [speaking] as a Kurdish person who was
born in Diyarbakır. I would like to invite all the ethnic groups whose
ancestors once lived in Diyarbakır back to Diyarbakır again. Come back
to your city,’ Baydemir said, addressing Turkish and Armenian
journalists on Sept. 25 on the sidelines of a roundtable conference
called `Expanding the Scope of Dialogue: Media and Armenia-Turkey
Relations at the Current Stage,’ organized by the Yerevan Press Club
in Diyarbakır.

`I don’t believe it is a serious and sincere call. It has no meaning
for us; no one could come back. What would we find out about ourselves
if we returned? I would of course want to return the land where my
ancestors were born, but it is not possible under such conditions,’
Suzanne Khardalian, a film director currently residing in Stockholm
whose family comes from Adıyaman and MaraÅ?, said.

`Why Diyarbakır?’

Garo Yalick, who currently lives in France but whose family has
origins in Van and Mardin, said the call did not make any sense to
him.

`They only remember to call on Armenian when they are faced with
political problems. So I want to ask: Why should we come back?’ Yalick
said.

The Armenian press also criticized Diyarbakır’s being chosen for the
`Turkey-Armenia Relations’ conference organized by the Yerevan Press
Club and chaired by Boris Navasartyan, because the Kurdish issue is so
intensely felt in the city.

A column about Baydemir’s invitation, asking `Why Diyarbakır?’ was
published by Hagop Çakıryan, a columnist for the Armenian newspaper
Azg who specializes in Turkey.

`Diyarbakır is being introduced as the capital city of North
Kurdistan, while Osman Baydemir is regarded as the Kurdistan Workers’
Party’s [PKK] representative. Baydemir is also seen as an enemy in
political circles in Turkey,’ Çakıryan’s column read.

The fact that Sunday’s meeting’s was held in Diyarbakır would not be
useful for the dialogue between the two countries, Çakıryan told the
Hürriyet Daily News. `Diyarbakır is a city associated with the Kurdish
problem. It must be the last place to go in terms of Turkey-Armenia
relations. While the Yerevan Press Club chair was saying this meeting
would contribute to Turkey-Armenia relations, Baydemir both underlined
the events of 1915 and made a call for the return [of non-Muslim
ethnic groups],’ Çakıryan said.
September/28/2012

NEW PARTY TO BE FORMED IN ARMENIA

arminfo
Thursday, September 27, 18:07

Political expert, former member of Hanrapetutyun party Suren Surenyants
is going to form a new party, Civil Union: New Rights.

He told journalists on Thursday that he is not satisfied with the
political situation in the country and is going to form a force that
will ensure transparency, free competition and justice. “My party
will open doors for new people with new ideas,” Surenyants said.

He said that his party will fight for the respect of human rights
and the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border.

“Of course, we will not have a candidate during the next year’s
presidential election, but we may consider cooperation with
Hanrapetutyun, Free Democrats, Heritage and Armenian National
Congress,” Surenyants said.

Surenyants expects progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks
in some 2-3 years, but for this purpose Armenia should make
certain concessions, particularly, give back some of the liberated
territories. “After the release of Ramil Safarov the trumps are in
Armenia’s hands,” the expert said.

ARMENIA SAYS DAMAGE CAUSED BY AZERBAIJAN ‘BEYOND MEASURE’
Shavarsh Kocharyan

27.09.12 | 11:22

The damage caused to Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia by Azerbaijan cannot
be measured with any numbers, said Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharyan reacting to reports from Baku that put the cost
of the ‘Armenian occupation’ at hundreds of billions of dollars.

“In response to the implementation by the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
of their right to self-determination Azerbaijan committed massacres
and ethnic cleansings against the Armenian population. It unleashed
a large-scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh which led to
victims, destruction of settlements, infrastructure and occupation
of territories,” the Armenian official told the state-run news agency
Armenpress.

“And today, by proclaiming an axe-murderer a hero and refusing to
withdraw snipers, create mechanisms for investigating border incidents
and strengthen the ceasefire regime, the Azerbaijani government is
responsible for the loss of life regardless of what ethnicity the
victims are. The machinations of numbers, international laws and
distorted regional history will not help the Azerbaijani government
to avoid responsibility,” concluded Kocharyan.

HUNGARIAN WEBSITE WARNS

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 15:54:34 – 27/09/2012

Politics.hu – A statement yesterday by the Hungarian foreign ministry
that it has “not much else” to offer Armenia to help mend the
diplomatic relations shattered by the Ramil Safarov affair suggests
that the Hungarian government is really trying to draw a line under
the ugly split.

I doubt it will work. Despite Hungary’s ongoing attempts to squelch
the inferno of Armenian rage at the release and subsequent pardoning
of the Azerbaijani axe-killer, the Armenian government and members
of the large worldwide diaspora of Armenians seem united in their
unwillingness to cool off.

Contrast this with the reaction in Hungary and among Hungarians abroad,
who early on divided along partisan lines, with the left lashing
out at the Orban government for springing Safarov, allegedly as part
of a deal with Azerbaijan involving monetary benefits for Budapest,
and the right defending the government.

While such a split among Hungarians is quite predictable, I can’t help
but find it incongruous, because there are good reasons why Hungarian
nationalists of the sort that have backed the government throughout
the controversy should be its biggest critics on the issue. Indeed,
of all the countries that a nationalist Hungary should be cultivating
good ties with, Armenia should be near the top of the list, for
reasons of both principle and practicality.

One (literally) graphic illustration of why is offered by the pair
of maps reproduced above. On the left, you’ve got a demographic map
of the ethnic Hungarian minority in Transylvania, and on the right,
one of Nagorno-Karabakh, the break-away ethnic Armenian enclave
within Azerbaijan.

The two situations are obviously not identical. As a percentage of the
population of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh (4%) is much smaller than the
population of Hungarians living in Transylvania (12%). And relations
between Hungary and Romania (or Slovakia, the other neighboring country
with a large Hungarian minority) are on their worst day miles better
than between Armenia and Azerbaijan on their best.

Still, the parallels are striking, and if there is any country in
Europe (last year it began negotiations to become an associate member
of the EU) that can identify with the challenges Hungary faces in
this area, it is Armenia.

Meanwhile, for those who doubt whether Armenia has the clout to
actually help Hungary and its ethnic kin abroad, the answer is yes. In
the US, the “Armenian lobby” is widely seen as one of the top three
such ethnic lobbies (the Cubans and Jews are the others). And it is not
just in the US that the Armenian Diaspora flexes its political muscle.

But now, rather than that muscle being flexed on behalf of
the Hungarian nation, it will be flexed against Hungary and the
Hungarians. And it should be Hungarian nationalists – rather than
their “internationalist” rivals on the left – who should be the most
enraged by the supposedly nationalist government that has allowed
this to happen.

SON ARRESTED, FATHER RESIGNS

03:10 pm | Today | Social

At 14:55 pm on September 26, the Armavir regional unit of RA Police
received a phone call about a brawl in a restaurant.

The owner of the restaurant located in Yerevanyan Street told the
policemen that on the same day at about 14:30 pm Sevak Minasyan, 38,
quarreled with him, hit him several times, after which he took out
a gun and fired 2-3 shots into the air.

At 15:30 pm on September 26 Sevak voluntarily went to the police unit
and handed his Colt pistol. Sevak Minasyan was detained.

Details are being examined.

An investigation is underway.

It needs to be reminded that Sevak is the son of the deputy prosecutor
of Armavir province. In accordance with an order of Armenia’s
Prosecutor General Afgvan Hovsepyan, the deputy prosecutor of Armavir
province Serzhik Minasyan has been dismissed today. Serzhik Minasyan
handed in his resignation because of feeling morally responsible for
the incident that occurred the day before.

PUBLIC COUNCIL ON KARABAKH AGAINST THE GLORIFICATION OF RAMIL SAFAROV

ARMINFO
Thursday, September 27, 11:02

ArmInfo-Turan: The last meeting of the Public Council of Karabakh
(PCK) was devoted to the discussion of the situation in Azerbaijan and
abroad in connection with extradition of Ramil Safarov by Hungary,
and pardon by President Ilham Aliyev, says the press release of the
given social structure.

During the discussions different opinions were expressed on the release
of Safarov. Some of the members of the Board said that the procedure
had been fully complied, while others saw in it a violation of legal
norms that would suggest first to review and mitigate the sentence,
and only then release it. It was noted that Ramil Safarov was punished
for the crime, and realized his act, as he said, not only in court,
but in an interview with newspapers, and there was a weighty reason
to revise his fate.

The views of the Council members coincided entirely on the
inadmissibility of glorification of Safarov, hurtfulness of a campaign
waged in Azerbaijan after the events.

Public Council on Karabakh notes that this campaign has caused great
damage to the reputation of Azerbaijan, and enemies of Azerbaijan will
take an advantage of that. In addition, there is a serious damage to
the legal and moral guidelines of the younger generation.

Public Council on Karabakh declares that Azerbaijan should start to
use the potential of the world to solve the conflict, specifically
disclose the proposed mechanisms for resolving it, remove malicious
ban on meetings and cooperation of Azerbaijani and Armenian experts
in the field of peacekeeping in Azerbaijan.

Public Council on Karabakh, calls on the Armenian and the Azerbaijani
societies to understand the difficult situation in settlement of the
Karabakh conflict, and create an atmosphere that would contribute to
the resolution of the conflict, the statement reads.

EDWARD NALBANDYAN AND OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS DISCUSS THE DAMAGE WHICH AZERBAIJAN HAS CAUSED TO THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH PEACE TALKS

ARMINFO
Thursday, September 27, 13:07

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan and OSCE MG co-chairs met
in New York on Wednesday to discuss the damage which Azerbaijan has
caused to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks and the ways to overcome
the created situation.

Over the meeting the co-chairs stressed once again their countries’
(Russia, USA, France) fundamental stance only towards peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The Karabakh conflict settlement process was also discussed at the
meeting between Edward Nalbandian and Philip Gordon, US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, in New York.

Special stress was put on the situation in the settlement process
after the Azerbaijani-Hungarian bargain on extradition and pardoning
of Ramil Safarov. In this context,the Armenian FM underscored the
world community’s specifically addressed and unanimously condemning
response. Over the meeting they also touched on prospects of future
development of the Armenian-American partnership.