Author: Badalian Vardan

ARMENIA ENVOY: DENIAL AS BAD AS GENOCIDE
by Van Meguerditchian

The Daily Star
April 24, 2012 Tuesday

The denial of genocide and other crimes against humanity should itself
be considered a continuation of that crime, Armenia’s envoy to Lebanon
said Monday.

RABIEH, Lebanon: The denial of genocide and other crimes against
humanity should itself be considered a continuation of that crime,
Armenia’s envoy to Lebanon said Monday.

Speaking on the eve of the 97th anniversary of the beginning of the
Armenian genocide, Ambassador Ashot Kocharian said that “[genocide]
denial should be condemned and considered a continuation of genocide.”

More than 1 million Armenians were killed and tens of thousands were
deported during the genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire beginning
in 1915.

Asked whether the passing of almost a century would close that page
in Armenian history, Kocharian said that “Armenia believes that
the recognition of crimes against humanity does not have a period
of expiration.”

“The consequences of the genocide have not been eliminated yet and
the issue remains open,” Kocharian told The Daily Star.

Although many historians have documented and written extensively on
the killings and deportations, the period remains a subject of debate.

France attempted to criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide
late last year but the French Constitutional Court rebuffed the Senate
bill, ruling that it infringes on freedom of expression.

At least 5,000 Armenians are expected to march to the Turkish Embassy
in Rabieh Tuesday to protest Ankara’s continued refusal to recognize
the mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

“Despite the international recognition of the Armenian genocide,
Turkey has consistently been fighting against it by falsifying
historical facts, propaganda campaigns and lobbying,” said Kocharian.

Armenia’s ambassador praised his state’s relationship with Lebanon,
saying that Beirut’s recognition of the 1915 genocide and Lebanese
Armenians’ vibrant participation in the country’s political, social and
economic life make the relationship between the two countries unique.

Kocharian said that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan established a
state commission to unite the efforts of Armenia and those in the
diaspora, including in Lebanon, to coordinate events dedicated to
marking the upcoming 100th anniversary of the genocide.

After having first established diplomatic relations between Yerevan
and Beirut 20 years ago, the two countries have moved closer in the
past two years following a number of high-level talks.

In December of last year, President Michel Sleiman and a ministerial
delegation signed bilateral agreements in number of fields.

“Seven new agreements, protocols and executive programs in the
fields of industry, tourism, culture, environment and sports have
been signed during the visit,” said Kocharian. “The historical
Armenian-Lebanese friendship has deepened, strengthened and matured
into a real partnership in the past 20 years.”

Kocharian says that Lebanon and Armenia share a lot in common. “We
share history and both countries have large diasporas.”

“As it was mentioned by President Sargsyan and Sleiman during their
joint press conference [in December], our political relations are
on the highest possible level, which is demonstrated by the active
interaction and reciprocal visits,” said Kocharian, adding that great
work has been done in the area of investments.

“Nowadays, Lebanon is the fifth largest investor in Armenia and two
Lebanese banks are operating branches in Yerevan,” Kocharian added.

During Sleiman’s visit last December, both countries agreed to resume
the work of the joint intergovernmental commission. “In the near
future we intend to hold the second session of the intergovernmental
joint commission,” said Kocharian.

According to Kocharian, Lebanese Armenians provide a solid foundation
and constitute a resource for boosting the ties with Lebanon.

In a separate visit last year, Armenia also pledged donations to
Lebanese schools. “In his official visit to Lebanon, Education Minister
Armen Ashotian announced the donation of laboratory equipment to 120
Lebanese schools,” said the ambassador.

“Now the whole set of laboratories is in Lebanon and they will soon
be distributed among schools,” he added.

Kocharian also said that all Lebanese visiting Armenia can obtain
their visas upon arrival at the airport in Yerevan.

As for Lebanese Armenians, Kocharian said that hundreds have already
been granted Armenian citizenship.

“Only last year, almost 2,000 Lebanese Armenians applied for the
Armenian citizenship and hundreds of them have already been granted
the citizenship,” said Kocharian, adding that some 40,000 Armenians
abroad have been granted citizenship in the past four years and demand
is increasing.

Kocharian said that Armenians around the world have the legal right to
apply for and acquire citizenship through their respective embassies.

According to Kocharian, the citizenship process might take several
months but after being approved by the Armenian president, the
applicants may visit Yerevan to receive their passports.

In an effort to encourage Lebanese expatriates around the world to
strengthen their ties with Lebanon, the Lebanese government approved
a draft law last year allowing Lebanese to carry dual citizenship.

Armenia’s ambassador also commended Lebanon’s productive stance on
the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.

“Armenia is for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and we highly
appreciated the balanced position of the Lebanese president in
Yerevan, according to which the Nagorno-Karabagh issue must be solved
on the basis of international law and the right of the people for
self-determination.”

Although internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijani territories,
Nagorno-Karabagh is a de facto independent state known as the
Nagorno-Karabagh Republic. The territory was occupied by Armenia
in 1994 when its forces backed the secessionist movement of ethnic
Armenians in the region.

OBAMA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN KILLINGS

Agence France Presse
April 24, 2012 Tuesday 1:47 PM GMT

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday commemorated the 1915 massacre
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, calling for “a full, frank, and just
acknowledgment of the facts” of the “brutal” killings.

While denouncing the massacre of 97 years ago as “one of the worst
atrocities of the 20th century,” Obama Enhanced Coverage LinkingObama
-Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysdid
not use the term “genocide,” but he implicitly called for Turkey to
acknowledge its role.

“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915. My
view of that history has not changed,” the president said in a White
House statement issued on Armenian Remembrance Day.

“A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of
our interests. Moving forward with the future cannot be done without
reckoning with the facts of the past,” he said.

The White House statement came as thousands of Armenians staged a
procession to a hilltop memorial above the capital Yerevan to mark
the anniversary.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million people were killed during World War I
as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, a claim supported by several
other countries.

Turkey strongly denies the genocide allegations, saying 300,000 to
500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with
invading Russian troops.

Obama said the anniversary should “honor the memory of the 1.5 million
Armenians who were brutally massacred or marched to their deaths in
the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.”

“As we reflect on the unspeakable suffering that took place 97 years
ago, we join millions who do the same across the globe and here in
America, where it is solemnly commemorated by our states, institutions,
communities, and families,” the US leader said.

“Through our words and our deeds, it is our obligation to keep the
flame of memory of those who perished burning bright and to ensure
that such dark chapters of history are never repeated,” the White
House statement added.

ARMENIA REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF 1915 OTTOMAN GENOCIDE

ITAR-TASS
April 24, 2012 Tuesday 08:14 AM GMT+4
Russia

Republic of Armenia is marking the Day of Victims of the 1915 Genocide
in the Ottoman Empire. Those tragic events claimed the lives of 1.5
million people.

Thousands upon thousands of Armenians are expected to get together
later in the day near the monument to the victims of genocide. In 1967,
the government of Soviet Armenia put up the monument in Yerevan as
a symbol of grief for the dead and a resurrection of the nation.

Since everyone who comes there traditionally brings flowers, the
mound of bouquet around the memorial’s eternal flame becomes taller
than an average person by the end of the day.

Monday night, the activists of the youth and students organization
of the nationalistic Armenian Revolutionary Party /Dashnaktsutyun/
organized a torch procession along the streets of Yerevan.

Armenian communities all across the world will hold commemorative
events Tuesday.

The Armenian community in worldwide dispersal reaches 5 million people,
including 2.5 million living in Russia, about a million living in the
U.S. and 500,000 in Franceand that is why monuments to the victims
of the Ottoman genocide.

The posterity of those who survived the tragedy of 1915 will come to
the monuments and the buildings of Armenian Churches later in the day.

Marches, pickets, public meetings will be held near the buildings of
Turkish embassies across the world.

International recognition of the facts of the Ottoman Genocide has
been proclaimed a priority of Armenia’s foreign policy at home. The
first large-scale genocide of the 20th century was later condemned
by a number of countries, and Greece and France even passed special
laws on it.

In 1995, Russia’s State Duma passed a disapproval of the persecution
of Armenians.

The original of the document is now kept in the Museum of Genocide
that was opened the same year next to the memorial.

Today’s Armenia has 126 persons who survived the tragedy 97 years
ago, including 96 women and thirty men, says Nelli Bagdassarian,
the chief of the national statistics service.

The problem of genocide has marred the relations between two
neighboring countries, Armenia and Turkey, for many long years. Even
now the Turkish government refuses to recognize the tragic events
of 1915, describing them as “legitimate actions on the part of the
Ottoman authorities towards the Armenian population of the Empire,
as the Armenians sympathized with Russia in the conditions of World
War I and supported the Russian government.”

Armenia and Turkey have a 330-kilometers-long common border but they
do not have diplomatic relations.

ARMENIA WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER 1915 GENOCIDE – PRESIDENT SARGSYAN

Interfax
April 24 2012
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and other high-ranking officials
laid flowers at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan as the country
marks the 97th anniversary of the murder of 1.5 million Armenians by
Ottoman Turks in 1915.

In his message, Sargsyan described today’s anniversary as a day of
national mourning.

“Nothing that was lost has been forgotten. We are Armenia,” the
president said.

“We will work together to make our state, our Armenian homeland
stronger. We will pass the memories of new victories on to the coming
generations. When I say all together, I mean both old and young people,
farmers and the intelligentsia, Armenians from the community abroad
and Armenians living in their home country, and especially our state,
which will not allow similar events or acts of genocide against the
Armenians or any other person to happen in the future,” Sargsyan said.

Several thousand people joined a Monday torch procession in Yerevan
marking the 97th anniversary of the murder of 1.5 million ethnic
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. They moved from the center
of Yerevan to the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial commemorating the Armenian
Genocide victims. A Turkish flag was burned at the start of the event.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND ANZAC DAY
Stephen Keys

Scoop.co.nz

April 26 2012
New Zealand

Every year on the 25th of April, New Zealand and Australia commemorate
ANZAC day. This day was chosen as it was the first day of the ill
fated Gallipoli campaign of 1915, the ill conceived and executed
attempt to wrest the Dardanelles from Turkish hands.

Most New Zealanders are not aware of horrifying and brutal event that
is commemorated the day before, also dating from 1915 – the Armenian
Genocide. While the New Zealand, Australian and Turkish governments
actively promote and mythologise the carnage that took place at
Gallipoli there is never a mention made of the concurrent, systematic
extermination of over a million men, women and children of Armenian
descent by a mixture of Turkish regular forces, “special operations”
groups of criminals, Kurdish and Turkish “irregulars”. Despite 20
other countries and 44 US states recognizing the genocide, neither
New Zealand nor Australia has done so and Turkey denies genocide even
happened, merely some regrettable incidents.

As Turkish academic Taner Akcam, author or the 2006 book, A Shameful
Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility
has noted, “Denial of the Armenian Genocide has developed over the
decades to become a complex and far-reaching machine that rivals
the Nazi Germany propaganda ministry. This machine runs on academic
dishonesty, fabricated information, political pressure, intimidation
and threats, all funded or supported, directly or indirectly, by the
Turkish state. It has become a huge industry.”

Not only that but under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code numerous
journalists and scholars have been prosecuted for “denigrating
Turkishness” by criticising Turkish actions during and after the
genocide.

This is all the more remarkable for unlike the Holocaust inflicted on
the Jews, the Armenian slaughter was well documented and reported at
the time, particularly by American diplomats and newspapers including
The New York Times. But as Akcam pointed out the Turkish denial has
been so strident and intense that combined with their willingness to
use their new found strategic importance to Western governments, has
allowed them to downgrade genocide to a series of unfortunate events.

Is this the sort of government we as New Zealanders are proud to stand
along side on April 25, 2015? Would we commemorate for instance the
Battle of El Alamein or Crete with a future German government that
decided to revise German culpability for the Jewish Holocaust? By
ignoring the Armenian commemoration the day before aren’t New Zealand
and Australia tacitly complicit in Holocaust denial, for it was indeed
the 20th century’s first Holocaust, equal to any that preceded or
followed it in its savagery and intent. Winston Churchill himself used
the H word and mused that the defeat at Gallipoli may have emboldened
the Young Turk leaders and exacerbated the violence.

Turkish denials coalese around multiple arguments that the mass
deportations and deaths were not planned and co-ordinated by the
government; the deaths were mostly from starvation due to famine during
war; that the Armenians were a fifth column threat to the Turkish
Army and had to be removed from areas of battle; that in the civil
disorder created by war massacres happened but some of them were by
Armenians too and that millions of Muslims of the Ottoman Empire had
been killed in the previous century so there was some unpleasant but
understandable revenge being taken by local groups.

There is of course an element of truth to some of these claims and
others. The ethnic animosity in the region was often violent. But the
fact remains there was a secret, organised programme of extermination
of the Armenians planned by the Young Turk Government. A cable
from Interior Minister Taalat Pasha to a regional prefect states:
“You have already been informed that the Government…has decided to
destroy completely all the indicated persons living in Turkey…Their
existence must be terminated, however tragic the measures taken may be,
and no regard must be paid to either age or sex, or to any scruples
of conscience.”

And ‘tragic” the measures were. Long forced marches without food
and water culled the old and very young, children were burnt alive,
groups roped together and pushed into rivers, boat loads taken out
to sea and pushed overboard, vast caves in the desert filled with
thousands to be burnt or suffocated by fire and smoke. Along the way
there was mass rape and pillage of belongings and young women by bands
of Kurds (a sad irony given Turkey’s current violent persecution of
its Kurdish minority)

The academic research seems overwhelming in favour of genocide. For
example in 2005 The International Association of Genocide Scholars
declared as part of a letter to the Turkish Government: “On April 24,
1915, under cover of World War I, the Young Turk government of the
Ottoman Empire began a systematic genocide of its Armenian citizens –
an unarmed Christian minority population. More than a million Armenians
were exterminated through direct killing, starvation, torture, and
forced death marches.”

No one is suggesting that modern Turks are responsible for genocide
any more than modern Germans but the denial and radical nationalism
of Turkey is a blot on their conscience. They steadfastly refuse to
face their historical demons the way the Germans have.

The question is whether made aware of the circumstances of the Armenian
Genocide and the continued Turkish denials we think our government
should recognise the tragedy and face Turkish wrath and possible
blow back on Gallipoli or decide that our commemorations are more
important and the Armenian Genocide is none of our business. 2700 New
Zealanders and 8700 Australians died at Gallipoli. Somewhere between
1-1.5 million Armenians were killed between late 1914 and 1923.

I suggest if you have any empathy for your fellow human being the
answer will be an easy one.

CURRENT ELECTORAL AGITATION IN ARMENIA PECULIAR FOR MUD-SLINGING

Vestnik Kavkaza
April 26 2012
Russia

The current electoral campaign in Armenia is peculiar for mud-slinging
and false information, an MP of the Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan
said, News.am reports.

The MP noted that Heritage has managed to neutralize countless rumours
in the last 5 years.

Armenia will have parliamentary polls on May 6. 8 political parties
are running for parliament. They include the Republican Party,
Prosperous Armenia, Orinats Yerkir, Heritage, Communist Party,
Dashnaktsutyun, Democratic Party, United Armenians and the Armenian
National Congress bloc.

ARF PROMISES TO MAKE ARMENIA UNRECOGNIZABLE

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 26, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: Armenia can be led not by the force
which cries the loudest but by young people. Vahan Hovhannisyan,
the member of the bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) said at a meeting with young ARF members, calling them to be
the most active.

“If you see the key to opening doors in our country in ARF, come,
join and stand up for that key. I not only call, but also demand it
of you,” said Mr. Hovhannisyan. He noted that the revolution starts in
the mind of a person, and starts with a voting. Vahan Hovhannisyan said
that May 5 will be the last day of indifference. Then the indifference
will be unforgivable.

“Preferring ARF you will not recognize your country after a year; you
will get proud of you, your choice, as you would have shaped your own
destiny,” he said. Vahan Hovhannisyan addressed the young people with
a request to read the ARF’s election program more profoundly. He also
asked the young people to look upon the meeting not as a pre-election
meeting, but as a direct contact.

PRIME MINISTER COMMISSIONED REMOVE LARGE-SCALED BUSINESSES FROM PATENT FEES CLASS

ARMENPRESS
APRIL 26, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS: The Government of the Republic of
Armenian is relieving the burden of small and medium sized businesses.

In April 26 sitting the Cabinet admitted the decision on Patent Fees
in accordance with the law on Patent Fees of the Republic of Armenia.

“In reality the tax burden will be relieved by this decision. Since
then the business entities which carry out patent activities for a
three-month or a longer term, will pay less tax than those that pay
with a one-month term.

Privileges were offered to restaurants with an area of up to 20 m2
operating in Yerevan. The head of the Cabinet stated that Government
will charge food markets with smaller areas two and a half time lower.

“I guess the major food stores might not enjoy the same right, it
would be incorrect”. Sargsyan hailed appropriate bodies come up with
their suggestions on removing large -scaled businesses from patent
fees class.

EXPERT FORECASTS SUCCESS TO 4 PARTIES IN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA

news.am
April 26, 2012 | 14:59

YEREVAN. – Armenian expert Stepan Grigoryan forecasted success to
four political parties to appear in the next parliament during a
press conference on Thursday.

According to the expert, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and
Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) may receive 30-35 percent of votes,
followed by ARF Dashnaktsutyun and Orinats Yerkir Party. As for
Heritage and Armenian National Congress (ANC), they may face problems.

However, still 10 days are left before the elections and everything
may change, he added.

Eight political parties and one block have presented their nominations
– Republican Party of Armenian, Prosperous Armenia Party, Orinats
Yerkir, opposition Armenian National Congress, opposition Heritage
Party, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, the Communist Party of Armenia, Democratic
Party of Armenia and United Armenians Party.

For entering the National Assembly, parties must poll over 5% of votes,
while blocs – over 7%.

The election campaign will be held till May 5 – the day prior to
elections when campaigning is banned. The parliamentary elections
will be held from 8 am to 8 pm on May 6, 2012.

BENZIN RUBO URGED TO STOP GAMBLING, PAPER SAYS

Aysor.am
April 26, 2012

According to Yerkir, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Armenia Martin Sargsyan and his brother Armen Sargsyan, newly appointed
head of Shengavit administrative district held a meeting in honor of
Ruben Masumyan (Benzin Rubo), former PAP member, currently Orinats
Yerkir candidate for parliament by majority system and ordered those
present to back Ruben in the elections.

“Interestingly, according to our information, at the meeting,
Masumyan’s protectors urged him to stop gambling, in particular at
Casino Senator. According to some information, Masumyan has lost most
of his property gambling,” the paper says.