Author: Badalian Vardan

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN : PLUSIEURS DEPUTES UMP VEULENT SAISIR LE CONSEIL CONSTITUTIONNEL
Stephane

armenews.com
mercredi 25 janvier 2012

Plusieurs deputes UMP, opposes a la loi penalisant la negation du
genocide armenien, ont annonce mardi leur intention de rassembler 60
signatures de deputes pour saisir le Conseil constitutionnel sur ce
texte. Jacques Myard (UMP) s’est ainsi declare “decide, avec un ami,
a faire circuler une saisine du Conseil constitutionnel”. “J’espère
que nous serons soixante et nous allons l’adresser a l’ensemble des
deputes”, a-t-il ajoute dans les couloirs de l’Assemblee. Selon une
source parlementaire, le depute UMP Michel Diefenbacher, president
du groupe d’amitie avec la Turquie a l’Assemblee, est egalement a
l’origine de cette initiative.

Le Conseil constitutionnel peut censurer une loi qu’il juge contraire
a la Constitution, s’il est saisi par 60 deputes, 60 senateurs, le
chef de l’Etat, le president de l’Assemblee nationale ou celui du
Senat. “Ce n’est pas une question economique en ce qui nous concerne,
mais parce qu’on tangente la liberte constitutionnelle d’expression,
qu’on veut sceller l’histoire, la sovietiser”, a affirme Jacques Myard.

Deux autres deputes UMP, Eric Straumann et Jean-Philippe Maurer, ont,
eux aussi, annonce leur decision de regrouper 60 deputes pour deposer
un recours devant le Conseil Constitutionnel. “L’adoption a l’Assemblee
nationale et au Senat d’une proposition de loi visant a punir d’une
amende de 45 000 euros et d’un an de prison toute personne qui aura
nie ou minimise un genocide apparaît comme inconstitutionnelle au
regard de l’article 34 de la Constitution”, ecrivent-ils dans un
communique. “Le respect et l’amitie dus notamment aux communautes
armeniennes et turques ne sauraient detourner la Constitution francaise
de ses fondements”, ajoutent-ils.

Lionnel Luca, lui aussi oppose au texte sur la penalisation de la
negation des genocides, mais qui s’etait abstenu lors du vote a
l’Assemblee le 22 decembre, s’est en revanche declare oppose “a un
recours de la Droite populaire” auprès du Conseil constitutionnel. “Si
c’est pour servir de caution a l’attitude scandaleuse du gouvernement
turc, je n’en vois pas l’interet”, a-t-il dit dans les couloirs du
Palais-Bourbon.

Dans la matinee, le president UMP de l’Assemblee nationale, Bernard
Accoyer, avait indique que, pour sa part, il ne saisirait pas le
Conseil constitutionnel malgre les reserves qu’il a exprimees a
plusieurs reprises sur ce texte.

GENOCIDE:DES ELUS VEULENT SAISIR LES SAGES

Le Figaro

24 janvier 2012
France

S’abonner au Figaro.fr Plusieurs deputes UMP, opposes a la loi
penalisant la negation du genocide armenien, ont annonce leur
intention de rassembler 60 signatures de deputes pour saisir le
Conseil constitutionnel sur ce texte. Jacques Myard (UMP) s’est ainsi
declare “decide, avec un ami, a faire circuler une saisine du Conseil
constitutionnel”. “J’espère que nous serons soixante et nous allons
l’adresser a l’ensemble des deputes”, a-t-il ajoute dans les couloirs
de l’Assemblee.

Selon une source parlementaire, le depute UMP Michel Diefenbacher,
president du groupe d’amitie avec la Turquie a l’Assemblee, est
egalement a l’origine de cette initiative. Le Conseil constitutionnel
peut censurer une loi qu’il juge contraire a la Constitution, s’il est
saisi par 60 deputes, 60 senateurs, le chef de l’Etat, le president
de l’Assemblee nationale ou celui du Senat.

“Ce n’est pas une question economique en ce qui nous concerne mais
parce qu’on tangente la liberte constitutionnelle d’expression, qu’on
veut sceller l’histoire, la sovietiser”, a affirme M. Myard. Deux
autres deputes UMP, Eric Straumann et Jean-Philippe Maurer, ont, eux
aussi, annonce leur decision de regrouper 60 deputes pour deposer un
recours devant le Conseil Constitutionnel.

HISTOIRE D’ARMENIE DE JEAN V. GUREGHIAN

Agence Bretagne Presse
24 janvier 2012

Source : Editions Yoran Embanner
Porte parole:Yoran Delacour
Publie le 24/01/12 16:39

FOUESNANT- Cet ouvrage resume les etapes essentielles de l’histoire
de l’Armenie et du peuple armenien, depuis les temps les plus recules
jusqu’a nos jours. Il est inspire par differentes etudes, faites a
ce jour.

Heritière de l’ancien royaume de l’Ourartou, l’Armenie, situee au
carrefour des empires, entre l’Orient et l’Occident, fut, durant
trois millenaires, l’objet de convoitise des Perses, des Romains,
des Byzantins, des Arabes, des Turcs Seldjoukides, des Mongols,
des Turcs ottomans, des Russes.

Malgre les multiples invasions, les Armeniens ont su conserver leur
identite nationale et ont developpe une culture originale.

L’Armenie a son propre alphabet et une Eglise chretienne independante.

L’actuelle Republique d’Armenie est ce qu’il reste d’un territoire
beaucoup plus vaste. A la suite du genocide de 1915, l’Armenie ”
turque ” a ete rayee de la carte. Ce premier genocide du XXe siècle,
durant la Première Guerre mondiale a depasse en horreur et en dimension
tout ce qu’avait endure le peuple armenien jusque la et restera grave
a jamais dans la memoire de chaque Armenien.

La question du Haut-Karabagh est evoquee, la diaspora armenienne (deux
Armeniens sur trois emigres en Europe, Moyen Orient et Amerique), les
liens avec la France (par exemple Manouchian et ” l’affiche rouge “).

Après une longue periode de sovietisation, la troisième Republique
d’Armenie a proclame son independance en 1991.

On trouvera en annexes des precisions concernant la musique,
l’architecture, le blason, la devise nationale, l’hymne armenien avec
la partition, les principales fetes…Le lecteur desireux d’approfondir
ses connaissances en histoire d’Armenie trouvera une bibliographie
en fin d’ouvrage

Ne en 1934, architecte, musicien de jazz et peintre, Jean-V Gureghian,
est aussi l’un des fondateurs du Comite du 24 avril qui eut un rôle
essentiel dans la reconnaissance par la France du genocide armenien
(29 janvier 2001). Il est l’auteur (ou le traducteur) d’une quinzaine
d’ouvrages.

En vente dans les librairies, maisons de presse et grandes surfaces

Broche-Poche-11x17cm-352 pages-Nombreuses photos et cartes en noir
et blanc-

CREDOZ SE FELICITE DE LA PENALISATION DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN

LyonCapitale.fr

24 janvier 2012

Pierre Credoz, maire socialiste de Decines, commune qui accueille une
importante communaute armenienne a l’Est de Lyon, a salue, ce mardi,
le vote “courageux et historique” du senat, lundi 23 janvier. Un
vote qui s’est deroule sans le senateur-maire de Lyon, empeche par
un changement de calendrier de dernière minute mais qui a donne son
pouvoir pour voter la penalisation du genocide armenien. Le texte
estime le maire de Decines, “permet enfin de reprimer la contestation
de l’existence des genocides reconnus par la loi, et notamment celle
du genocide armenien”.

Il constitue selon lui “la suite logique de la loi du 29 janvier
2001 par laquelle la France a reconnu le genocide armenien”. Pierre
Credoz espère neanmoins que la nouvelle loi oeuvrera au rapprochement
“entre l’Armenie et la Turquie qui, comme ont su le faire la France
et l’Allemagne, ont un avenir commun a construire ensemble”.

Cambridge Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA)
January 25, 2012
Contacts:
Cheryl Shushan, President, [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
Jack Medzorian at 781 729-6457, [email protected]
[email protected], or

Joseph Dagdigian at 978 772-9417 @ [email protected]

CYSCA Adopts Shengavit Preserve Project

The Cambridge Yerevan Sister City Association (CYSCA) at a recent
meeting of its Board of Directors voted unanimously to adopt a program
to help preserve and renovate the Shengavit Historical and
Archaeological Culture Preserve in Yerevan.

The Shengavit Preserve includes an archaeological site dating to the
4^th millennium BC which was continually occupied from between 1,000 to
2,000 years. Archaeologists differ on the duration of occupancy. There
is a small museum next to the archaeological excavation containing some
of the artifacts recovered from the site. Other Shengavit artifacts are
on display at other museums within Armenia. The Shengavit settlement was
part of the so called Kura-Arax culture which had trade relations with
cultures far beyond Armenia’s borders. This culture is believed to have
played an important role in the formation of the Armenian people.

The director of the Shengavit Preserve is Vladimir Tshagharyan, an
architect and archaeologist with extensive experience managing
archaeological sites in Armenia. He was also a participant in a U. S.
State Department funded”Community Connections”training project sponsored
by CYSCA for /Cultural and Historical/ /Preservation/ specialists from
Armenia in the greater Boston area in May/June 2003.

Shengavit was initially excavated in 1936 by Joseph Orbeli (1887-1961)
and Eugeni Bayburtyan (1898-1938). Orbeli was the director of the
Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Bayburtyan, an Armenian
archaeologist, was arrested by the Soviet secret police in 1938 for
being too nationalistic. Most recently, in 2011, a team of Armenians and
archaeologists from the U.S. led by Dr. Mitchell Rothman, Professor of
Anthropology and Archaeology at Widener University in Pennsylvania,
examined the site. Following is a portion of a recent comment by Dr.
Rothman:

/”The site of Shengavit in the hills above the Ararat Plain is one set
of remains of an ancient culture called variously Kura Araxes, Early
Transcaucasian, Karaz, Pulur, Shengavitian, etc. Its full time period
is still much under debate, but probably it starts somewhere around 3500
BC and ends 2500-2200 BC. The homeland of this culture is in the
Southern Caucasus, the current countries of Georgia, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan, along with a section of current northeastern Turkey from
Erzurum through Kars provinces. To fully understand the importance of
this culture, its place in its contemporary world is essential to
comprehend. Its beginning is co-terminus with the establishment of the
first states in southern Mesopotamia and the founding of the first
international trading system, which covered an area from the Persian
Gulf to the North Caucasus from modern western Iran to the Mediterranean
Sea…”/

The Shengavit site has three employees, including its director, all of
whom receive token salaries. There is, however, no budget for the
preservation, maintenance and enhancement of the site. Immediate needs
include visitor amenities such as bathrooms, running water, and a
pavilion to provide shade from the glare of the hot summer sun. Next are
required fencing and security for the site and repair, and ultimately
replacement, of the museum building which dates to 1920. The site also
needs landscaping appropriate for an archaeological site and most
importantly preservation of the site’s archaeological structures and
artifacts.

The Cambridge Yerevan Sister City Association was formed in 1986 and is
a member ofSister CitiesInternational. Since its inception CYSCA has
participated in numerous exchanges and training programs with Armenia
inmany diverse fields, such asenvironment, business, medicine,
education, tourism, public health, social work, aviation,culture, etc.In
1994 CYSCA was awarded a certificate forthe most outstanding youth
exchange nationally by the Sister Cities International.Over the past two
decades, CYSCA has sponsored 10 youth exchanges and conducted 19
professional development training programs for specialists from Armenia.

CYSCA was incorporated in 1987 as a non-profit organization and given
501(c)(3) status by the IRS. Donations to this organization are
deductible for Federal Income Tax Purposes. Donations for CYSCA’s
Shengavit project can be sent to: CYSCA, PO Box 382591, Cambridge, MA,
02238-2591. Please include a note indicating that the donation is for
the “Shengavit” project.

For more information about CYSCA please visit
or contact: Cheryl Shushan, President,
[email protected] ; or Jack
Medzorian at 781-729-6457, [email protected]
. For more information about Shengavit please
contact Joseph Dagdigian at 978-772-9417.

ANALYST: TURKEY’S THREATENING FRANCE IS A PERFORMANCE FOR LOCAL AUDIENCE

arminfo
Wednesday, January 25, 16:09

The passions of Turkey around the bill on criminalizing Armenian
genocide denial adopted by the French Senate are for the local
audience use, Russian political expert, Andrey Areshev, said during
today’s Yerevan-Moscow TV bridge.

“Turkey’s threatening France is a performance for local audience. I
think that the reason of such an agio are the forthcoming presidential
election in this country. Undoubtedly breaking of relations between
Paris and Ankara is not in favor of Turkey first of all, judging from
the fact that Ankara will hardly dare to make any serious step in this
direction”, – he said.

Areshev also added that the decision of the French Senate has already
left the frames of this state and is directing towards America and
Europe. If Turkey still hopes and wants to join the EU, it is obliged
to play according to the European rules. At present, the role of
Turkey is sharply changing and the country is gradually losing its
influence in the region. It wants to join the EU but refuses to play
according to the European rules. This causes serious problems for the
Turks, which are actually beneficial for Armenia and promote global
recognition and criminalizing of the Armenian genocide denial.

DEMOYAN SAYS TURKEY’S FM’S STATEMENT SIGN OF OBVIOUS AGGRESSION

ARMENPRESS
JANUARY 25, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JANUARY 25, ARMENPRESS: The adoption of the bill penalizing
the denial of the Armenian Genocide is a call for Turkey that Europe
is not waiting for that country, director of Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said at the space bridge organized
today. He noted that Turkey once again showed that it is not ready
to accept its loss.

“It showed that it is not ready to become EU member in political,
cultural and other respects. It is seen from the recent statement of
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Davutoglu who said that Turks will return
to the territories they lost in 1911-23,” Demoyan said. He noted that
it was sign of obvious aggression.

ARMENIAN BILL: TURKISH PRESS, FRANCE CONTRACTS STOPPED SOON

ANSA Med
Jan 24 2012
Italy

Ambassadors also to be recalled, but after appeal

(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, JANUARY 24 – The Turkish press says that Ankara
is preparing to react to the French law on the Armenian genocide with
a number of retaliatory measures, including exclusion from public
contracts, appeals to international courts, a break in diplomatic
ties, and a ban on French use of air space and territorial waters
for military purposes.

The Turkish newspaper Haberturk, however, says that the measures will
only be applied if French senators reject the likely appeals to the
Constitutional Court in Paris.

In the meantime, the Posta newspaper says that Turkey is considering
excluding French firms from state and armed forces contracts, as well
limiting to an absolute minimum the economic ties between the two
countries. Miliyet lists other possible measures, suggesting appeals
to international courts, a fall in diplomatic ties to the lowest
possible level and the recall of the Turkish military official in
Paris and expulsion of his French counterpart in Ankara, as well as
a denial of the use of Turkish air space by French military aircraft
and a ban on French ships sailing in Turkish waters.

Official indications of Turkey’s reaction are expected in a speech to
be made this afternoon by the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
in front of his party’s parliamentary group. (ANSAmed).

GENOCIDE DENIAL LAW IS PASSED

The Connexion

Jan 24 2012
France

A BAN on denying that killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
constituted genocide will be enshrined in French law.

The Senate adopted by 127 votes to 86 a proposed law already passed
by the National Assembly to punish by ~@45,000 and a year in prison
anyone who denies or “minimises in an outrageous manner” “a genocide
recognised by law”.

In fact the law only relates to the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust
denial already being offence under a previous one.

Turkey recalled its ambassador from Paris after the bill was passed
by the National Assembly last month and some official visits between
the countries were cancelled.

During the debate both Armenians and pro-Turkish demonstrators massed
outside, kept separate by gendarmes.

Only the left-wing radicals and greens opposed the law en masse,
saying it was not parliament’s role to legislate on such matters.

Green senator Esther Benbassa, who lived in Turkey as a child, said:
“This law cobbled together in a rush will not help the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide in Turkey or help bring together the Armenian
and Turkish people”.

However supporters of the bill said it was not right there was a law
about the Jewish Holocaust, but not one for the Armenian Genocide
(recognised as such in France since 2001).

There are half a million French people of Armenian origin in France.

Armenians say that, starting in 1915, the Turks deliberately killed
more than a million people of their ethnicity; however Turkey argues
that both Armenian Christians and Muslim Turks died in intercommunal
violence and there was no systematic plan to eliminate Armenians.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL PASSED IN FRANCE

Sky News

Jan 24 2012
Australia

A bill making it a crime to deny the 1915 killings of Armenians was
a genocide has passed both houses of France’s parliament.

The Senate’s vote on Monday came despite Turkey’s threats to impose
new sanctions on France. It already suspended military, economic and
political ties when the lower house of French parliament passed the
bill last month.

The measure now needs to be signed by President Nicolas Sarkozy,
whose party proposed it, to become a law.

The Senate adopted the bill without any amendments, with 127 votes
in favour and 86 votes against.

The bill, which punishes denial of genocides recognised by France by
a year in prison and 45,000 euros ($A55,000) in fines, has therefore
now been adopted by parliament.

While most historians contend that the 1915 killings of Armenians as
the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century’s first genocide,
Turkey vigorously denies that.

France now officially recognises two genocides: the Nazi Holocaust
of Jews during World War II and the deaths of hundreds of thousands
of Armenians in eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1917. The country
already has a law punishing Holocaust denial.