Author: Badalian Vardan

Le Figaro, France
28 fevr 2012

Génocide:Sarkozy veut un nouveau texte

AFP Mis à jour le 28/02/2012 à 18:17
Nicolas Sarkozy a chargé le gouvernement de préparer un nouveau texte
prenant en compte la décision de censure du Conseil constitutionnel
sur la loi punissant la contestation du génocide arménien en 1915, a
annoncé l’Elysée.

“Le président de la République a pris acte de la décision” et “mesure
l’immense déception et la profonde tristesse de tous ceux qui avaient
accueilli avec reconnaissance et espoir l’adoption de cette loi
destinée à les protéger contre le négationnisme”, indique un
communiqué de la présidence. Nicolas Sarkozy “a chargé le gouvernement
de préparer un nouveau texte, prenant en compte la décision du Conseil
constitutionnel”, ajoute-t-il.

Europe 1, France
28 fevr 2012

Génocide : “nous reprendrons ce sujet” (Hollande)

Par Europe1.fr avec Anissa El Jabri

“J’imagine ce qu’est la déception de ceux qui avaient voulu voter
cette loi, j’en étais, pour qu’il y ait la pénalisation de la négation
du génocide”, a commenté François Hollande après la décision du
Conseil constitutionnel de censurer la loi pénalisant la négation du
génocide arménien.

“Je veux dire ici toute ma solidarité aux Arméniens de France parce
que je sais ce qu’ils attendaient. Je veux dire aussi aux Turcs de
France qui s’étaient mobilisés qu’ils avaient tort finalement de
s’imaginer que c’était contre eux. C’était une loi qui devait
réconcilier. Mais elle n’était pas présentée forcément au bon moment”,
a ajouté le candidat socialiste.

Se projetant d’ores et déjà dans l’après-présidentielle, François
Hollande a pris un engagement : “Nous reprendrons ce sujet dans
l’apaisement, dans la tranquillité mais aussi dans la sécurité
juridique”.

`The birth of self-determined citizen in Mashtots Avenue park’ – 22nd
day, struggle continues

18:07 . 03/03

Again there was a large crowd at the park adjacent to Mashtots Avenue
in Yerevan, today. It has already been quite a time that the
ecological protest act doesn’t stop there. And the young activists
express their protest not only by gathering at the park, but also
organizing different cultural and ecological events. `The birth of
self-determined citizen in Mashtots Avenue park’, the ecological forum
organized today had this title.

Today is the 22nd day of the civil fight held at the Mashtots Avenue
park. And though the protectors of the park could stop the
construction work in the park during these days with difficulty, and
the issue was raised to all the possible responsible bodies,
nevertheless, the issue hasn’t received a final solution so far.

And the ecologist activists modestly continue their fight till the day
when the stalls and the part of the café constructed in the public
area will be deconstructed, and the public area will be reconstructed
to the benefit of the right of public property. The demand is the
same, while the ways to fulfill it are different.

The park is the best platform to raise the ecological issues existing
in our country.

The ecologists touched upon the issues of Teghut, Kajaran, Jermuk
during the forum, discussed all the possible ways of their solution.
People of different ages and having different professions participated
in the forum.

Artur Ispiryan had come to the park not as a singer, but here he is an
ordinary citizen, who is also concerned in ecological problems of the
country. The singer highly appreciates the activeness of the young
people in such important issues.

Parallel to the forum, a photo exhibition was organized in the park
again on ecological topics. The next day of struggle ended in cold and
at the same time in a hot atmosphere.

Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan disseminates statement refuting
Azerbaijani media reports on Nagorny Karabakh

arminfo
Saturday, March 3, 18:24

Azerbaijani mass media have quoted the statement by Leonid Filimonov,
representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry for Stavropol Krai, on
Nagorny Karabakh conflict and Russia’s stance on it.

Azerbaijani media quoted Filimonov as saying that there have been many
conflicts in the world similar to that over Nagorny Karabakh and it
should not be resolved hastily. “When one makes hasty steps, the
problem is not settled in the political way. Of course, we recognize
Nagorny Karabakh as occupied territory. However, resolution of this
problem requires big patience. It has been repeatedly mentioned also
by the Russian leadership.”

In this connection, the Russian Embassy in Azerbaijan has disseminated
a statement saying: “The Embassy has to explained that Filimonov’s
statements were certainly misquoted by the mass media, which created a
distorted picture of Russia’s stance on the given issue.”

APA, Azerbaijan
March 3 2012

Samad Seyidov: `Azerbaijan’ has a say in world political arena and
this will influence the talks on Nagorno Karabagh’

[ 03 Mar 2012 13:25 ]
Baku. Ramil Mammadli – APA. `We expressed our position on co-chairmen,
repeatedly. We have never refused any talks as Azerbaijani side, on
the contrary, we tried to activate the talks’, said the Chairman,
Standing Commission of Milli Mejlis on Foreign Affairs and
Inter-Parliamentary Relations Samad Seyidov.

He noted that, Azerbaijan was not satisfied with the current
status-quo in Nagorno Karabagh: `Armenia intends to keep status-quo.
Keeping the lands under occupation violates the international law.
Therefore, Azerbaijan offers OSCE Minsk Group and all sides attending
in these talks to approach these issues more attentively. We want
status-quo to be changed. Liberation of Azerbaijani lands is the
requirements of international laws. I’m sure that, Azerbaijan has a
say in world political arena and this will influence the talks on
Nagorno Karabagh. I’m sure that, co-chairmen of Minsk Group will
discuss these issues and we’ll solve this problem’.

Sex, Flags, and Ocalan: Facebook Embraces Turkish Censorship
by Nanore Barsoumian

March 1, 2012

A recently leaked document reveals that in addition to censoring
sexually explicit, violent, and hate-inciting materials, the social
networking site Facebook has special rules for content deemed
unacceptable to the Turkish state. Gawker.com recently posted the
document leaked by a former employee of oDesk, the firm contracted to
police the content shared by Facebook users.

The 17-page manual outlines especially strict policies when it comes
to Turkey, its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Kurds, and
imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. No other country enjoys
such censorship privileges.
The 17-page manual outlines particularly strict policies when it comes
to Turkey, its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Kurds, and
imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. No other country enjoys
such censorship privileges.

The leaked document caused outrage among users of social networking
sites. `EU slams Turkey for freedom of expression violations while
#Facebook helps Turkey ban Kurdish content. What say you, EU?’ asked
one Twitter user.

Once a specific post is reported by a Facebook user, moderators are
instructed to `confirm,’ `unconfirm,’ `escalate,’ or `ignore’
materials that might be considered offensive. The manual defines
`confirmed’ as `a decision which implies that there is a violation on
a piece of content, as reported by the user.’ Once confirmed, the
material is deleted. If the post does not constitute a violation, the
moderator `unconfirms’ the material. `Escalate,’ on the other hand,
sends the content to Facebook’s internal review team `for further
action.’

In its manual, aside from categories dealing with sex, nudity,
bullying, self-harm, and graphic contents, the manual has an `IP
Blocks and International Compliance’ section. Within it, four types of
materials are to be `escalated’: `Holocaust denial which focuses on
hate speech’; `All attacks on Ataturk (visual and text)’; `Maps of
Kurdistan (Turkey)’; and `Burning Turkish flag(s).’ Two other types of
content deemed somewhat less offensive, but still unacceptable, are
`Any PKK support or [PKK related] content with no context,’ and
`Content supporting or showing Abdullah `Apo’ Ocalan.’ The latter two
are to be `confirmed (unless clearly against PKK and/or Ocalan).’

The categories are further clarified in a section titled `Content that
should be escalated.’ The list includes `Photos AND/OR text making fun
of/attacking/depicting negatively/criticizing, Ataturk’; `Burning the
Turkish flag (other flags are ok to be shown burning)’; `Maps of
Kurdistan (as of now, only maps are escalated; other references are
merely confirmed)’; and `Holocaust denial (any discussion of holocaust
denial that contains hate speech should be escalated).’

Flags of Kurdistan are to be `ignored’ – in other words, they are
allowed. The updated 6.1 version of the manual instructs employees to
be aware of `PKK versus Kurdistan flags.’

Following the leak, some Twitter users referred to Facebook as `Fascistbook.’

`Facebook has surrendered to the fascist Turkish state, and bans
everything related to the Kurds and Kurdistan. Facebook
Fascistbook,’ tweeted an outraged user, while another wrote,
`#Facebook discriminates against kurds like hitler’s book mein kampf
discriminates against Jews. We are denied our existence.#Fascistbook.’

Others were outraged that the content related to Ocalan was censored.
`The only one man whose pics are banned on #Facebook #Fascistbook is
Kurdish leader Ocalan. #humanrights abuse,’ wrote one user.

`#Facebook didn’t want to be banned in #turkey so [Facebook founder
Mark] Zuckerberg sold his soul to the devil & now supports oppression
of Kurds #Fascistbook,’ tweeted another.

Turkey has banned access to thousands of websites deemed offensive.
Article 301 of the Turkish penal code criminalizes `insulting the
Turkish people, Republic of Turkey, and governmental institutions and
bodies.’ The video sharing website YouTube was banned in Turkey in May
2008, after users posted material that authorities said insulted
Ataturk. Authorities removed the ban in October 2010, but reinstated
it in November after a clip allegedly showed the former chairman of
the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, in a bedroom with a
female aide.

In an open letter to Zuckerberg published on the Kurdish ekurd.net
website, Hawar Jamal Ameen, an ethnic Kurd, voiced his disappointment
at Facebook’s policies. He said the policies ignore the persecution of
Kurds in Turkey, and the denial of their basic human rights; the
imprisonment of Kurdish children who dare to speak their mother
tongue; Ataturk’s involvement in atrocities against Armenians and
Kurds; and the similarities between Nelson Mandela and Ocalan.

`I am going to make this an issue of logic, common sense, and
rationality,’ he wrote. `Countless people around the world are abused,
victimized, and oppressed by their governments but you have not
mentioned them. It seems that the Kurdish (and only Kurdish) people
now have to add Facebook to the list of oppressors.’

`As a Kurd I may be biased but I am not asking you to support an
independent Kurdish state or for you to allow racist abusive behavior
towards Turkey or its people, but your policy has clearly been written
or heavily influenced by a Turkish individual or group that
specifically promotes Turkish nationalism and the oppression of the
Kurdish ethnic minority,’ Ameen said.

Widow of dead businessman accuses mother-in-low and state bodies of Armenia

news.am
March 03, 2012 | 00:04

Widow of Armenian dead businessman, former owner of Aray Company
Tatyana Chadenkova accuses relatives of her husband and state bodies
of Armenia.

She wrote to the Armenian News-NEWS.am that she has been struggling
for two years to return her 5 year-old daughter back, whom she brought
up till 3 years, while her former husband’s family took the child
illegally in 2009 cowardly and brutally.

`Understanding that they will not return my child back willingly, I
came to Armenia last December. I found out that my former
mother-in-law Karine Sukiasyan cheated the authorities by telling as
if she did not know my whereabouts and took the custody of my
daughter,’ she stated in the letter.

Chadenkova also claims that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law have
been discrediting her in the society since she tries to return her
daughter back.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley-Education Committee
6252 Honolulu Ave.
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: 818 303-5566
Email: [email protected]

La Crescenta, CA.- Dr. Kenell Touryan, a noted scholar, scientist, a
public servant and a man of faith, will be the honorary guest speaker
on ” God and the Cosmos: Chance, Necessity or Design?” at the Armenian
Apostolic Church of Crescenta Valley, located at Western Prelacy’s ”
Dikran and Zarouhi Der Ghazarian ” Hall, at 6252 Honolulu Ave., in La
Crescenta, California on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 1pm, following the
church service which starts at 11.

Science continually raises philosophical questions that go beyond the
competence or purview of science. The recent debate in intelligent
design versus evolutionary processes based on natural laws alone, has
indeed raised questions that require a broader perspective to deal
with them.

These questions touch upon ultimate issues that include: the origin of
the universe; the origin of life on earth through purely random
processes; the appearance of homo-sapiens, and the quantity and
quality of complex information processed by living organism.

A close examination of these critical issues point to the inevitable
conclusion that an intelligent Creator is indeed the source of all
these phenomena. The lecture will address these issues from the
Judeo-Christian perspective, demonstrating that God’s fingerprints are
visible in the cosmos and in nature, if one is willing to approach the
evidence with an open mind.

Born in Beirut-Lebanon, Dr. Touryan graduated with a Ph.D from
Princeton in Aerospace and Mechanical Science with a minor in Physics.
He has managed the Fluid and Plasma Physics Department at Sandia
National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Department of
Energy projects in former Soviet Union countries. He is the Director
of National Renewable Energy Laboratory and a Senior analyst in
technology transfer. He has spent ten years in private industry
helping commercialize several renewable energy technologies and is the
author of over 90 publications in Scientific Journals, inventor of 3
patents and has 2 published books. He is the Vice President of
Research and Development at the American University of Armenia (an
affiliate of UC Berkeley , and a member of American Scientific
Affiliation where he served as President from 2003-2004. He has
received several awards for his work in energy technologies, with
special emphasis on renewable energy. He has used his scientific
background to hold seminars and training sessions internationally on ”
Science and Christian Faith ” and has served on the board of Colorado
Christian University and World Vision US and Polytechnic Institute of
Armenia. Dr. Touryan and his wife live in Indian Hills, Colorado and
have three married children and 7 grand children.

The general public and the youth in particular are invited to this
soul searching, informative and very interesting lecture. The speaker
will speak in Armenian with English video-slide presentation. Salpi
Edgarian will introduce the speaker and Norik Edgarian will play on
piano for the audience. This special and unique event which is
organized by Crescenta Valley Armenian Apostolic Church ( CV Church )
and CV Church Education Committee is sponsored by family members of
the late Lusik Vartanian ( age 106 ), herself, a devoted member of the
Armenian Community and a true believer in God.

The event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcomed to
attend. There will be a reception before the start of the program at
the completion of the Divine Liturgy.

Dink murder convict ready to testify if gendarmes stand trial

March 3, 2012 – 18:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Yasin Hayal, who received a life sentence for his
involvement in the killing of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
has said some gendarmerie officers in Trabzon should stand trial for
their involvement in the murder of Dink and added that he is ready to
testify whenever needed, Today’s Zaman reports.

Hayal, who claims that he received the instructions to murder Dink
from Erhan Tuncel, has said that gendarmerie officers in Trabzon
insistently told him to stay in contact with Tuncel, who they called a
good man.

Tuncel, the controversial Trabzon police informant who was sentenced
to 10 years for his role in the 2004 bombing of a McDonald’s in
Trabzon, was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder,
including the prosecutors’ claim that he was the one who gave orders
to Hayal.

Adding that he went to the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command many times
after the murder, Hayal said he would testify if prosecutors
investigate the gendarmes. `The court has asked for the gendarmerie
command’s guest book to see whether or not I went there, and they
could not see my name in the book; this is because I was allowed to
move freely about the post, and officers told me that I didn’t need to
sign the book.’

Explaining his relations with the gendarmes before the murder, Hayal
says a high-level gendarmerie officer named Nazım gave orders to
privates in the office to pay great respect to Hayal. `When someone in
his 20s gets praised like that all time, he would blindly do anything
for a person of such rank. They used to provide everything for me,
including food and clothing,’ he added.

Hayal says he previously provided evidence of gendarmes’ involvement
in the murder case but that the court has not investigated the
documents he provided.

The late editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was
shot and killed in broad daylihgt on Jan 19, 2007 by ultranationalist
Ogun Samast outside the offices of his newspaper in Istanbul.

Despite certain decrease of cash remittance volume in 2011, this year
Areximbank-Gasprombank Group expects growth of transfers by 20%

arminfo
Saturday, March 3, 18:34

Despite certain decrease of cash remittance volume in 2011, this year
Areximbank-Gasprombank Group expects growth of remittance by 20%,
deputy director general of Areximbank-Gasprombank Group, Ruben
Khachatryan, told Arminfo correspondent.

“Since the beginning of the crisis in the banking system of Armenia
the noticeable decrease of the cash remittance has been noted. This
may be explained by the two key factors: first, the world financial
crisis, and second, harsh competition among the banks”, – Khachatryan
said. He also added that at present almost all the banks offer their
customers international cash remittance service practically on equal
conditions. “The market is full of proposals. For this reason, the
demand has decreased. Similar situation happened in our bank in 2011.
If compared with the results of 2010, the volume of the cash
remittance of individual persons dropped by 20% and amounted to 5 bln
drams versus 6.2 bln drams in 2010. As for the remittance of the legal
persons, they dropped by 11%. Nevertheless, in 2011 positive dynamics
of increasing of the cash remittance volume was noticed in all the
banking system of Armenia in general, by about 11-15 %, he said. “The
improvement of the situation makes us hope for the growth of the cash
remittance volume by about 20% in 2012. Of course, I have already
said that the competition is harsh at the market, they have been
fighting for every customer and only the bank which offers high
quality service wins. For this reason, the bank should always raise
effectiveness of work, extend the specter of services and widen
partnership with different international payment systems”, –
Khachatryan said.