Author: Badalian Vardan

ARTASHES GEGHAMYAN: “TURKEY FAILED”

Wednesday,
February 29

“Turkey is not in a deadlock; it has failed. And the reason of it is
that three years ago Ahmet Davutoglu had declared the doctrine of the
Turkish foreign policy – Nil problems with neighbors, which, however,
didn’t come true,” Artashes Geghamyan said today.

He mentioned that Turkey has a lot of problems with the Arab world,
with Syria, Islamic Republic of Iran, with the West, while Armenia
has friendly relations with the all mentioned above countries except
the Turks and Azeri.

“This is the privilege of our foreign policy,” the head of the National
Unity party mentioned.

ARMENIAN EXPERT SAYS TURKEY BECAME HOSTAGE OF ITS POLICY

ARMENPRESS
FEBRUARY 29, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. After the ruling of the
Constitutional Council of France Turkey says it has won but in reality
it has become the hostage of its policy, Turkologist Ruben Melkonyan
told the reporters on Wednesday, stating that the recognition of the
Armenia Genocide is inevitable.

In his words, France has already given its political assessment to the
fact of the Armenian Genocide, recognizing it as undeniable reality.

The other issue is legislative field. “This ruling will promote the
growth of nationalism in Turkey. Members of the Constitutional Council
of France do not reject the fact of the Armenian Genocide but they
are against of giving it a legislative status,” he said.

Melkonyan noted that if frank legal approach exists the Constitutional
Council of France should have such ruling over the Holocaust too.

The Turkologist said in case the bill is circulated again, Turkey
will apply all the rest tools. He said Sarkozy will use the bill in
the pre-electoral period to show that he keeps his promise.

“Steps made by Turkey promote wider discussion of the Armenian Genocide
with it increasing the number of countries learning about this crime,”
he said.

IRANIAN MP: IRAN TO REVISE POLICY TOWARDS NAKHIJEVAN

Panorama.am
29/02/2012

Iran should revise its policy towards Nakhijevan, Iranian arannews.ir
quotes Hossein Ebrahim, deputy chairman of Iran’s Mejlis committee
on national and foreign policy, as saying.

“This isn’t the only contract signed between Baku and Tel Aviv, but
in this respect Azerbaijan has become a center of hostility for Iran,”
Iranian MP said.

Developing the topic Hossein Ebrahim warned if Azerbaijan continued
its policy, Iran would exercise all the measures to neutralize it.

FARS news agency reported earlier that Azerbaijan’s anti-Iranian policy
was getting severe. “20 years ago when Azerbaijan lost its connection
with Nakhijevan in the aftermath of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, hundreds of cargos and buses drive through
Nakhijevan every day saving the territory from humanitarian disaster.”

CAFESJIAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS TO HOST RUSSIAN ART MUSEUM COLLECTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 29, 2012 – 09:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Spring Motifs: A Selection from the Collection of
the Museum of Russian Art exhibition opens at Sasuntsi Davit Garden
Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts on March 1.

The exhibition presents 24 paintings from the reserves of the Museum
of Russian Art of Armenia (the Collection of Aram Abrahamyan), united
by the theme of women portraits and flowers, conveying the spirit
of spring.

The exhibition is a joint undertaking of the Cafesjian Center for
the Arts and the Museum of Russian Art of Armenia.

REP. HOWARD BERMAN CALLS ON US ADMINISTRATION TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

armradio.am
29.02.2012 11:11

“Two of the least noticed and most dangerous trends of recent years
have been Azerbaijan’s rapidly growing military budget and its
increasing bellicosity toward Armenian populated Nagorno- Karabakh,”
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Ranking Member on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, said, speaking on the House floor.

“Last June, during Azerbaijan s largest military parade since the
Soviet era, President Aliyev vowed to avenge the deaths of Azerbaijani
soldiers killed during the 1988-1994 Nagorno- Karabakh war and declared
that “the war isn’t over yet; only the first stage is over.”

He then boasted that Azerbaijan s defense budget is twenty times
larger than it was just eight years previously and larger, in fact,
than the entire budget of Armenia,” Berman stated.

“It is particularly appropriate that today, February 27 – the
anniversary of the 1988 Azerbaijani pogrom directed against its own
Armenian population in Sumgait – that we commit ourselves to stopping
these ugly threats. Armenian history is drenched in tragedy. Everybody
knows about the Armenian Genocide, even if, sadly, only a minority of
my colleagues has been willing to recognize it officially. But fewer
know about the hundreds of thousands of Armenians murdered under the
Ottoman regime in the nineteenth century. And fewer still, it seems,
know about the pogroms and ethnic cleansing that Armenians living in
Azerbaijan suffered at the hands of Azerbaijanis as the Soviet Union
was breaking up.”

“The Sumgait pogrom that we recall today lasted three days and
resulted in the murder of hundreds of Armenian civilians. Other anti-
Armenian pogroms took place in Kirovobad November 21 27, 1988, and in
the Azerbaijani capital Baku January 13 19, 1990. During this era,
there were media reports of Armenians being hunted down and killed
in their homes. The systematic pattern of all these attacks suggested
that something even more sinister than a mob uprising was at work.”

“Azerbaijan seems bent on destroying every last vestige of the Armenian
presence in Azerbaijan For example, there is videotaped evidence of
the Azerbaijani government’s December 2005 systematic desecration and
destruction of an ancient Armenian cemetery, including thousands of
intricately-carved grave-stones in Djulfa, in a section of Azerbaijan
near the Turkish border. I believe our State Department still has
not adequately examined this incident, and I call on it to do so.”

“Today is a solemn day as we recall this history of murder,
displacement, and destruction, but it is this very history that
underscores the importance of self-determination for Nagorno-
Karabakh. I call on the Administration to press the Azerbaijani
government to cease its bellicose rhetoric and to stop its headlong
rush to war now and to adhere strictly to the principled basis of
the Minsk Process, namely, the search for a peaceful, negotiated
solution for Nagorno- Karabakh I likewise call on the Administration
to redouble its efforts to achieve a solution for Nagorno- Karabakh
And, on this day when we once again reflect on the brutality Armenians
have suffered, and endured, for centuries,” Mr. Berman said, calling
on the Administration to acknowledge history and to recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

NKR PRESIDENT PLACES FLOWERS TO MONUMENT OF SUMGAIT VICTIMS

news.am
February 28, 2012 | 12:40

STEPANAKERT. – Commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Armenian
pogroms in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR)
President Bako Sahakyan, accompanied by the country’s senior officials,
on Tuesday visited NKR capital Stepanakert’s Memorial and placed
flowers to the monument eternalizing the memory of the pogrom’s
innocent victims.

Afterward, President Sahakyan got familiar with the Memorial’s
reconstruction activities, Office of NKR President informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

ATELIERS DE L’EUROMEDITERRANEE A LA JAF
Aurelie Ohanian

armenews.com
mardi 28 fevrier 2012

Rendez-vous le 1er mars pour une rencontre exceptionnelle

Dans le cadre des Ateliers de l’EuroMediterranee de Marseille-Provence
2013 , la photographe Kathryn Cook, representee par l’Agence Vu, est
accueillie en residence par l’association de la Jeunesse Armenienne
de France (JAF) en partenariat avec le Bec en l’air editions.

Pour Kathryn Cook, la photographie est un outil essentiel pour garder
la trace de la memoire des societes et pour les interroger.

L’idee fondatrice de son travail est que le passe doit etre exhume,
discute et partage pour pouvoir construire un futur collectif et
pacifie. Elle part ainsi regulièrement a la rencontre de la diaspora
armenienne en Turquie, au Liban, et aux Etats-Unis. Sa residence
au sein de la JAF lui permet de rencontrer l’importante communaute
armenienne de Marseille et de recueillir des temoignages de l’exil
des aines.

Cet Atelier de l’EuroMediterranee sera associe a l’exposition Memory
of Trees, synthèse de son travail et une monographie sera editee
par le Bec en l’air editions. Cette exposition coproduite par le
MuCEM en partenariat avec le musee Niepce de Chalon-sur-Saône sera
composee d’une scenographie incluant creation sonore, documents et
tirages photographiques.

Issue de la Resistance de 1945, inspiree par Missak Manouchian,
la Jeunesse Armenienne de France est une association loi 1901 qui a
pour but le developpement culturel et artistique des jeunes Francais
d’origine armenienne.

Sensible aux valeurs de citoyennete et d’integration, la JAF a permis,
grâce a son sens de la creation et de l’innovation, a des generations
entières de decouvrir leur patrimoine culturel d’origine et ainsi de
perpetuer leur identite.

Qu’il s’agisse d’art, de culture ou d’aide a l’Armenie, la JAF s’est
hissee par l’ensemble de son action au rang des associations les plus
actives de la communaute armenienne de France.

Creee en 1999, le Bec en l’air est une maison d’edition independante
specialisee dans les beaux livres. Un point commun reunit toutes
les publications : le dialogue entre le texte et l’image, qu’il soit
en harmonie ou en opposition, a travers une mise en page de qualite
et des photographies d’auteur. En plus de son travail d’editeur, le
Bec en l’air developpe en partenariat avec La Marelle des projets de
residence d’auteurs et de photographes en lien avec ses publications,
le livre Memory of trees, fruit du travail de Kathryn Cook sur
l’Armenie,paraîtra a l’automne 2013 et ses photographies feront
l’objet d’une exposition a Marseille, au MuCEM, a la meme periode.

Vaste plateforme de soutien a la creation contemporaine irrigant le
territoire de Marseille-Provence, les Ateliers de l’EuroMediterranee
(AEM) sont un des projets fondateurs de Marseille-Provence 2013.

L’ensemble des acteurs de la societe civile accueille en residence
des artistes de toutes les disciplines. Ils temoignent de la volonte
d’ouverture de la Capitale sur la Mediterranee et creent ainsi
des rencontres inedites entre les artistes et les entreprises ou
institutions publiques.

Actuellement une quarantaine d’ateliers sont mis en oeuvre sur le
territoire, et alimenteront le programme de la Capitale.

Presentation du projet par Kathryn Cook en presence de Julien
Harounyan, president de la Jeunesse Armenienne de France et de
Jean-Francois Chougnet, directeur general de MP2013. Le 1er Mars 2012
a 17h dans les locaux de la Jeunesse Armenienne de France 47 avenue
de Toulon 13006 Marseille

Photos : Kathryn Cook

LAWYER CHANGES REMARKS ON GULEN MOVEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH MURDER OF HRANT DINK

Today’s Zaman
Feb 27 2012
Turkey

A co-plaintiff lawyer representing the family of Hrant Dink, a Turkish
citizen of Armenian descent who was shot dead by an ultranationalist
teenager in January 2007, has told Today’s Zaman that remarks he made
in an interview with the Hurriyet Daily News misrepresented what he
really meant to say.

Cem Halavurt claimed in the Feb. 25 interview — in which he focused
on the suggestion that a presidential report concluding the murder
was committed by an organized crime group and calling for officials
suspected of involvement to be investigated might be a turning point
in the Dink case – that: “The nationalists and the Fethullah Gulen
group saw the murder coming. They both agreed to commit to the murder.

They all wanted to profit from the outcomes of the murder.” Asked by
Today’s Zaman if his statements were correct, Halavurt said he needs
to correct his wording:

“It is not possible to accuse the whole group. I meant to say that
there are some people like Ramazan Akyurek in the police department
who are known to be followers of Fethullah [Gulen]. The same goes for
the Ä°stanbul and Trabzon police departments’ intelligence services.

They have not been investigated for their role in the murder despite
several requests for an investigation into those officials, since
there is evidence that they knew about the plan to murder Dink. I
should also say that I do not mean to accuse nationalists either. I
meant to point out the neo-nationalist group [ulusalcı] nested in
the structure of Ergenekon.”

Dink was the editor-in-chief of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and
an outspoken member of the Armenian community. Despite judicial expert
opinion to the contrary,

Dink was convicted of violating Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK). The article has been criticized for stifling freedom of speech
as it forbids insulting “Turkishness.”

Halavurt also said the “Gulen movement” benefited from the outcome of
the murder since he thinks: “They have used this murder against their
opponents. … Two admirals in the “Kafes” [Cage] case wanted to be
part of the Hrant Dink trial; they are saying that it is because they
wanted to prevent the murder that they are now in prison. There is
a power struggle going on within the court cases.”

Halavurt also claimed that the Ergenekon investigation started after
the murder of Dink. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal network accused
of working to topple the government. Dozens of Ergenekon suspects,
including military officials, businessmen, journalists and academics,
are currently in prison on terror and coup charges as part of the
Ergenekon case.

Asked by Today’s Zaman if co-plaintiff lawyers of the Dink family
share Halavurt’s opinion as presented in the Hurriyet Daily News —
that the Gulen society “agreed on the commitment of the murder,” —
Arzu Becerik, another co-plaintiff lawyer in the Dink case, said that
“nobody can say that.”

Commenting on the words of Halavurt, human rights lawyer Orhan Kemal
Cengiz said as Halavurt himself admitted, he “makes no sense.”

Cengiz, who is also one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs
in the Zirve murder case of April 2007, when three people who sold
Christian literature were brutally killed, said first of all the
Ergenekon investigation started following the discovery of hand
grenades inside a house in Ä°stanbul’s Umraniye district in the summer
of 2007, not as a result of Dink’s murder.

Secondly, Yasin Hayal, a major suspect in the killing of Dink, said
that he was mainly in contact with the gendarmerie commander in
Trabzon, Cengiz added.

“Let’s not forget that the Santoro, Dink and Malatya murders were
mentioned as ‘operations’ in the Cage Operation Action Plan. I agree
that those murders would not have happened if police had not turned
a blind eye. And it is also possible that the police was under the
influence of anti-missionary propaganda at the time,” he said in
reference to the Cage (Kafes) plan, a suspected Naval Forces Command
plan targeting Turkey’s non-Muslim communities.

Cengiz said that it is one thing to turn a blind eye to the murder
plans, and it is another thing to be among those planning the murder.

“Obviously, Halavurt is quite confused. His state of mind is quite
dangerous for a lawyer. His remarks show that he lacks a clear
understanding of the situation. I suspect that this unhealthy point
of view could have contributed to their loss of the case,” he said.

In April 2010, an indictment regarding the Cage Operation Action
Plan was added to the case file on the 2007 Malatya murders. The plan
calls the killings of Dink, Catholic priest Father Andrea Santoro and
three Christians in Malatya an “operation.” An antidemocratic group
within the Naval Forces Command aimed at fomenting chaos in society
with those killings, but complained that the plan failed when large
groups protested the killings in mass demonstrations.

Evidence collected in the Ergenekon investigation suggested that
the brutal killings might have been organized by Ergenekon, which is
suspected of a large number of murders and bombings aimed at creating
chaos in the country to serve the organization’s ultimate purpose of
overthrowing the government.

“All those who tried to have Dink convicted are in jail as Ergenekon
suspects,” Cengiz added.

Garo Paylan, one of the leading members of the “Hrant’s Friends” group,
who, in their ongoing search for justice, call on the government to
punish the perpetrators of Dink’s murder, told Today’s Zaman that
Halavurt’s remarks are quite “provocative.”

“If he holds accountable the whole Gulen group for the murder, then
this is crossing a line. This is like saying ‘all Armenians are
betrayers.’ On the other hand, we expect a statement from the same
group saying that if there are followers of Fethullah Gulen in the
police and if they were involved in the murder of Dink, the group
supports their punishment to the end.”

According to the final verdict in the five-year-long murder trial of
Dink, the suspects had no ties to a larger crime network but acted
alone. Judge Rustem Eryılmaz said amid growing outrage over a trial
that many feel has failed to shed light on alleged official negligence
or even collaboration; and that while he personally cannot deny the
murder was the work of an organized network, the evidence submitted
to the court was not sufficient to issue such a ruling. In addition,
the prosecution believes the killers are affiliated with the Ergenekon
network. The case went to the Supreme Court of Appeals.

CATHERINE ASHTON: “THE NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT IS VERY DIFFICULT AND IT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED”

APA
Feb 27 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Victoria Dementieva – APA. “The European Union wants to play
strong role and be solidary with Azerbaijan and Armenia to be able
to help and support the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

This conflict is very difficult and needs to be resolved”, said High
Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy Catherine Ashton in the keynote speech at the meeting of the
Council of the European Union in Brussels.

Ashton noted that the situation in the South Caucasus, particularly
in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia will be discussed at the meeting:
“The Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be one of the main topics of the
discussions on the South Caucasus. We will discuss what the European
Union can do for the settlement of this conflict”. Ashton noted that
though the European Union is not an official mediator in the settlement
of the conflict, she appointed Philippe Lefort to the post of Special
Representative for the South Caucasus and crisis in Georgia.

TACKLING AZERBAIJAN’S IDP BURDEN

International Crisis Group

Feb 27 2012

Azerbaijan has made significant progress in recent years in caring
for roughly 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were
forcibly evicted from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts
by ethnic Armenian forces nearly two decades ago. Though many still
face precarious existences, the state has been investing heavily in
new housing and increasing benefits. But while some IDPs have fully
integrated, many more are still in limbo. The government and most
of the displaced favour return to their original homes. That the
stalled peace process with Armenia means this is not an immediate
prospect should not preclude IDPs from being full participants in
Azerbaijan’s political and economic life. Yet, their unresolved
fate is one of the main reminders of the conflict – and, without a
peaceful settlement, puts pressure on the Azerbaijan leadership to
prepare for the possibility of a new war.

2011 was a lost year for the peace process, as seven years of talks
on a Basic Principles agreement meant to lay the foundation for an
eventual comprehensive peace deadlocked. Baku and Yerevan are in the
midst of a major arms race and exchange increasingly militaristic
statements, while sporadic clashes along the front lines kill about 30
persons annually. Beyond some possible confidence-building measures
(CBMs), there is little likelihood of progress for the coming year,
with Armenia, Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries
(France, Russia, U.S.) all entering electoral cycles. Earlier
Crisis Group reports have explored the threat of resumed fighting
and suggested ways to move toward resolution of the conflict. A
forthcoming report will again analyse the diplomatic and security
situation. This briefing, however, concentrates on a too often ignored
human consequence of the crisis.

The Azerbaijan government has begun to expend significantly more
resources to improve the lot of the displaced, who are 7 per
cent of the total population – one of the highest rates in the
world. 108,000 were moved into new housing over the past two years,
with space for 115,000 more slated to be constructed by 2015. Some
complain, however, of poor construction and infrastructure, lack of
community participation in planning and limited access to land or job
opportunities in the new communities, all areas that need additional
attention and improvement.

Azerbaijan’s IDPs benefit from free or low-cost education, health care
and energy and have some special employment opportunities, though
their ability to express their interests is limited by inability to
elect municipal representatives. The some 40,000 from Nagorno-Karabakh
are in principle represented as a group by the Azerbaijani Community
of Nagorno-Karabakh Social Union, but its leadership is not fully
popularly elected, and the 560,000 displaced from the occupied
districts around Nagorno-Karabakh are not well represented. The
political voice of IDPs thus remains weak. They should be more
effectively integrated into decision-making about housing, services,
and other community needs, as well as contingency planning for
emergencies and confidence-building measures (CBMs).

This briefing includes a section on conditions for those approximately
128,000 IDPs and permanent residents living in close proximity to
the 180km-long line of contact (LoC) that marks the 1994 ceasefire
between the opposing forces. It does not address the plight of the
Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and vice versa who fled the initial
violence in the late 1980s, as the overwhelming majority of them have
been largely integrated into their respective new countries. Regular
exchange of fire between trenches, snipers, mines and a lingering
threat of renewed full-scale hostilities make living conditions near
the LoC particularly precarious. A small (six-person) monitoring team
from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
has virtually no resources, meaning it provides inadequate oversight
and inspires little confidence among the contending sides or civilians.

To facilitate greater IDP engagement in policies relevant to their
lives, the Azerbaijan government should:

Uincrease transparency; involve IDPs as much as possible in housing
decisions; and streamline processes for reporting incidents of
corruption or violations of state law regarding IDP issues; and
Uallow IDPs, while their villages and towns remain occupied, to vote
for municipal councils in their places of temporary residence.

To protect IDPs and other civilians along the LoC, the Azerbaijan
authorities should:

Uagree with the Armenian government and the de facto authorities
in Nagorno-Karabakh to an expanded interim OSCE monitoring role,
to an OSCE proposal to remove snipers from the LoC and to set up an
incident investigation mechanism, as well as to immediately cease
military exercises near the LoC and advancing trench positions; and
Ucreate an inter-ministerial task force, including the National Agency
for Mine Action (ANAMA), to design a strategy to increase the safety
of communities near the LoC, including more civil defence training,
while refraining from resettling additional IDPs there.

The international community, in particular the co-chairs of the
Minsk Group (France, Russia, U.S.) facilitating efforts to reach a
comprehensive peace, should:

Ufacilitate the creation of an incident investigation mechanism,
including the operation of a hotline between the sides to discuss
ceasefire breaches, and otherwise protect the civilian population
living near the LoC; and ~Udevelop more on-the-ground CBMs to create an
atmosphere of trust, including promoting civil society meetings between
the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic Azeri
population expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and the occupied territories.