Author: Badalian Vardan

FRANCE-TURKEY: ARMENIANS, LAW IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ERDOGAN

ANSA med
Jan 20 2012
Italy

Turkish Premier and FM warn senators not to pass law

(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, JANUARY 20 – Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have stressed that France’s
draft bill that states that denying the Armenian genocide in 1915
is illegal is unconstitutional. They have urged the French Senate to
reject the bill.

Referring to a recent vote in a commission of the French Senate,
Erdogan said in a television interview that the commission has
concluded that bill is unconstitutional. “I believe that the French
Senate will take the decision made by the Commission into account,”
the Turkish Premier said, quoted by Turkey’s Anadolu agency. “This
decision will not survive,” Foreign Minister Davutoglu said today
during a press conference about another issue, also mentioning the
possibility of legal steps. “We ask every French senator to think,
before taking a decision, setting political interests aside,” the
Minister continued. “First of all, we expect mister Sarkozy, his party
and the French Senate to respect European values.” A vote in favour
of the law, Davutoglu claimed, “would stain France’s intellectual
history” which we, as Turks, “will remember forever.”

The draft bill punishes the denial of the two genocides that have
been recognised by France (the Jewish and Armenian genocides) with
one year in prison and a fine of 45 thousand euros. It was passed by
the French National Assembly on December 22 and will be examined in
Senate on Monday. At the centre of frictions between France and Turkey
since 2001, the vote in Chamber has caused a real diplomatic crisis.

Political and military cooperation has been frozen and Turkey has
temporarily recalled its ambassador from Paris.

Turkey denies that the killing of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire
can be defined as genocide, and considers such statement as harmful
for the honour of the Turkish nation. Erdogan has accused Sarkozy
more than once of trying to pass the law to gain votes. The Armenian
community living in France counts around 600 thousand people.

THOUSANDS IN TURKEY MARK KILLING OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST AMID CRITICISM OF COURT RULING

Voice of America

Jan 20 2012

In Istanbul, tens of thousands of supporters of slain ethnic-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, marked the fifth anniversary of his murder,
with many claiming the Turkish state was involved. But a court
on Tuesday ruled there was no conspiracy, provoking national and
international criticism.

“We want justice for Hrant,” shout supporters of the slain
ethnic-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Tens of thousands of
people marched through the center of Istanbul to the offices of the
Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, which Dink once edited, to mark the
fifth anniversary of his murder. Along with grief, the protesters
are expressing anger.

On Tuesday, a court convicted a man for instigating the murder,
but acquitted 19 people on state conspiracy charges. For this, Dink
supporters say justice was not served.

“The real subjects of this case have not been imprisoned,” For me,
it represents the state’s attitude towards this kind of political
murders. Like they mostly protect the killers rather than punish them.”

Dink was shot dead just outside his office by 17-year-old nationalist
Ogun Samast. Samast was sentenced last year to 22 years in jail.

But Dink’s family and supporters claim senior members of the Turkish
state were the architects of his murder. Dink had been a target
for nationalists and the state for describing the mass killings of
Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide. Shortly before
his murder he was convicted of insulting Turkey with his views.

The Turkish representative of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, Emma
Sinclair Webb, says with so much evidence implicating the state in
Dink’s murder, the court’s decision gives a disturbing message.

“If you are an Armenian journalist in Turkey, you can be murdered, and
your killers who are deeply connected with the state will somehow not
be investigated for their links with the state,” said Webb. “And the
state authorities will not be held to account. That is the message
this case gives. And more broadly, the case comes in [a] climate
of clamp-down on the government oppositionists and imprisonment of
particularly Kurdish journalists.”

Turkey’s ruling AK party is facing growing criticism in connection
with the case. The party had been seen as being in the forefront of
purging the state of anti-democratic forces.

Hundreds of senior state officials, including army officers, are
currently on trial as part of Ergenekon, a network prosecutors allege
was seeking to overthrow the government and implicated in numerous
political assassinations. A prosecutor in the Dink trial also claimed
Ergenekon was behind the Dink killing – a charge rejected by the court.

Political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Istanbul Bahcesehir University
says the Dink verdict is a worrying sign for Turkey. He argues now
that the state is purged of anti-government forces, the ruling AK
party has become the status quo.

“We have always had a difference between the government and state,”
said Aktar. “The state was actually working against the AK government
in the early years of its power. But now it is one and the same. It is
clear the Turkish democratic transformation is coming to an end. It
means the old forces, the old elite, and the old habits will come
back.”

Addressing the media after the verdict, Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer
representing the Dink family, gave a warning to the government.

Cetin says those in power today appear to have formed an alliance
with the traditional forces of the state, but she says their alliance
is temporary unless the state transforms itself,” said Cetin. “She
says this traditional force will eventually end its alliance by
exterminating those in power.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc acknowledged the criticism
about the verdict and says it can be appealed.

But among Dink supporters protesting the verdict, there are mixed
feelings about whether justice can ever be secured.

“No, not now,” said a supporter. “But we believe we will get justice
with this activity. We believe we will take our justice for Hrant. We
must take justice. It is a state murdering.”

“I just believe in the justice, in the people, because I am not
believing in justice in this country anymore,” aded another supporter.

Dink’s supporters are now preparing for a long battle for justice. The
outcome of that struggle is being seen as a crucial test for the
government in its commitment to democratic reform.

RUSSIAN, AZERI FOREIGN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS PREPARATIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL MEETING ON KARABAKH

Interfax
January 19, 2012 Thursday 9:34 AM MSK
Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Azeri Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov will discuss preparations for a meeting between
the Russian, Azeri and Armenian presidents at negotiations in Moscow
on Thursday.

“We will discuss preparations for another meeting between the three
presidents concerning Nagorno-Karabakh settlement efforts. The
meeting will take place in Sochi on January 23,” Lavrov said at a
press conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

The two foreign ministers will sign “a very important document,
that is, an agreement on diplomatic real estate,” Lavrov said.

“We have finally calculated and measured everything and will close
the issue that has remained unsolved for a very long time,” he said.

TENS OF THOUSANDS COMMEMORATE KILLED ARMENIAN-TURKISH JOURNALIST IN TURKEY

Xinhua General News Service
January 19, 2012 Thursday 2:25 PM EST
China

Some 40,000 people took to the streets in Turkish cities of Istanbul,
Ankara, Izmir and Adana Thursday to commemorate Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside his office in Istanbul
five years ago.

A large crowd gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim square Thursday afternoon,
while 10,000 people were marching towards Agos’ office in Halaskargazi
Street, where Dink, the editor-in-chief of an Armenian newspaper was
shot dead on Jan. 19, 2007 by an ultra- nationalist teenager in broad
daylight. Red carnations were placed on the spot where Dink fell.

The hit-man Ogun Samast and 18 others were brought to trial. Lawyers
for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs presented evidence suggesting
that Samast was not acting alone. Another suspect named Yasin Hayal
was given life in prison for inciting Samast to kill.

The court’s verdict, which found that the teenagers acted on their
own, came on Tuesday, two days before the fifth anniversary of Dink’s
murder, triggering thousands to protest with a combined sense of
anger and grief.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday in his second statement on
the verdict said that concluding the trial fairly and transparently
is a major test for Turkey.

“The Hrant Dink trial is an important trial. It has special sensitivity
since it concerns one of our non-Muslim citizens. It is a major test
for us to conclude the trial process so far and from now on in a fair
and transparent way,” he said.

‘ARMED FORCES’ TASK IS TO LIBERATE AZERBAIJAN’S OCCUPIED LANDS’

Today.Az
19 January 2012

Azerbaijan’s highly professional army is the most powerful factor
of statehood and resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, MP
Aydin Mirzazadeh believes. He said increasing the armed forces’
fighting capability has become the result of true internal and
economic policies.

“It was a time when Azerbaijan’s public budget made up $800 million-$1
billion, of which approximately $130 million allocated for defense,”
Mirzazadeh said. “Today Azerbaijan’s budget makes up $22 billion,
of which $3-4 billion is spent on defense.”

He recalled that Azerbaijan’s military budget is twice more than
military budget of Armenia.

“The Azerbaijani army is armed with modern technology, logistical
support is on high level, and the NATO standards are applied,”
Mirzazadeh noted.

Strong army is one of the powerful factors of Azerbaijan’s pressure
on Armenia, he believes.

“The armed forces’ task is to liberate the Azerbaijani lands,”
Mirzazadeh said. “Our army is ready for that. Armenia, feeling this
mood, cannot resist this,” he stressed adding that now Armenian
generals are obliged to admit superiority of the Azerbaijani army.

According to Mirzazadeh, Azerbaijan prefers to liberate its lands
peacefully, without war.

“This is a chance for Armenia,” Mirzazadeh stressed. “The Azerbaijani
president’s speech at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the
socio-economic development in 2011 and impending challenges in 2012
showed that Armenia once again is given a chance. If Armenia does
not use this, it will necessarily reap the bitter results.”

YEREVAN AUTHORITIES BEGIN DISMANTLING KIOSKS ON ABOVYAN STREET

/ARKA/
January 19, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, January 19. /ARKA/. The Yerevan authorities began Wednesday
the dismantling of trade kiosks and illegal structures on downtown
Abovyan street, Shushan Sardarian, a spokesperson for Yerevan mayor,
said.

“We have repeatedly said that all kiosks on Abovyan street will be
dismantled. The question was raised by the mayor’s office log time ago,
and during all that time we had been negotiations with their owners”,
said Sardarian.

According to her, despite the fact that all kiosk owners had lease
contracts and made no breaches the municipality has reached an
agreement with them to dismantle their kiosks and move them to other,
specially allotted places.

The authorities began dismantling trade kiosks with expired lease
contracts in 2011. The municipality said it would not extend the
contracts, except for newsstands. At present there are 3,395 kiosks
in Yerevan, of which about 1,180 idle. The authorities have dismantled
about 1000 idle kiosks and will dismantle 266 more.

LA SCHOOL STUDENTS RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIP HONORS

Published: Thursday January 19, 2012

Students awarded at the ASA-Montrose ceremony.

Montrose, Calif. – In the City of Montrose, the fourth annual Greg
and Sylva Martayan Scholarship for Education and “Leader of Tomorrow”
honors took place with great success.

The Armenian Sisters Academy (Montrose, CA) was chosen as the school
where the honors would take place on December 16. Four students
were recognized for their determination and commitment to their
education, school and community and one student was the recipient
of the scholarship award. In celebration of these honors, this year
marked a historic partnership of the awards with California State
Assembly Member Mike Gatto and the Glendale Police Department.

“It is a privilege to partner with Mr. and Mrs. Greg and Sylva
Martayan for their recognition of deserving students through their
scholarship and ‘Leader of Tomorrow’ awards they established many
years ago. It is a priority of mine to foster and promote students
who display initiative and leadership qualities. A strong education
was the foundation for my personal and professional growth, and I
support all efforts that lay the groundwork for future generations
of leaders” stated Assemblyman Mike Gatto.

Under the auspices of Sister Lucia Haik, Principal of the Armenian
Sisters Academy, the ceremony commenced with an opening of songs
performed by the sixth through eighth grade students. After which
formal remarks on behalf of the School Advisory Council were delivered
by Chairwoman Naris Khalatian-Bethel. The ASA Advisory Council
extended their warmest wishes and welcomed to the school Mr. and Mrs.
Martayan and Assembly Member Gatto. Mrs. Khalatian-Bethel was joined
by countless members of the ASA Advisory Council and community,
who also joined in the morning ceremony.

Mr. Martayan, in conjunction with Assembly Member Gatto and Glendale
Police Department Representative Joe Allen, addressed the students
and spoke on topics of service, community and education. Assembly
Member Gatto provided the students with words of inspiration and
encouragement to achieve their dreams.

Mr. and Mrs. Greg and Sylva Martayan are strong supporters of American
and Armenian cultural, educational and service organizations. Both
attended Armenian educational institutions as children. Mr. Martayan,
attended C & E Merdinian Armenian Evangelical School in Sherman Oaks,
CA. Mrs. Martayan, attended Armenian Sisters Academy in Montrose
(previous Glendale campus), CA.

Mr. Martayan has served on numerous critical boards, councils and
commissions throughout the years. He has been the recipient of the
“Tomorrow’s Leader” award by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel.

Through his past work as a Commissioner in the City of Los Angeles
and as an Ambassador with the National Crime Prevention Council, Mr.

Martayan has led successful efforts to create safer schools and
communities across the country. Mrs. Martayan served as a Sunday
School teacher and during her time as an Engineer at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, she helped break gender barriers for young
women in her field.

“The students chosen display a passion for education and service. They
are future leaders of the Diaspora. It is a privilege to acknowledge
these young people. It is a privilege that is also an important duty
as an Armenian American” stated Mr. Martayan.

The event concluded with a reception, hosted by the Armenian Sisters
Academy Ladies Auxiliary. Assembly Member Gatto, Glendale Police
Department Representative Joe Allen and Mr. Martayan met with community
leaders of the Armenian Catholic community and the Armenian Sisters
Academy Advisory Council after the ceremony and reception.

DEFENDERS OF TRCHKAN WATERFALL URGE BUSINESSMEN TO LAUNCH ECONOMIC PROGRAMS IN THE MOST VULNERABLE RURAL COMMUNITIES

arminfo
Thursday, January 19, 13:11

The defenders of the Trchkan waterfall have urged businessmen to
launch economic programs in the most vulnerable rural communities,
including in the deposits near the waterfall.

This, in their opinion, will allow creating additional jobs in farming,
light industry and some other fields.

“The owners of the deposits (among them former and acting government
officials, MPs and their relatives) say that they are creating new jobs
but in reality are using people as cheap workforce,” say the greens.

A number of environmentalists united into a Let’s Save Trchkan
group following reports about plans to build a water power plant
near the waterfall. After a series of large-scale campaigns Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan promised to turn the area into a specially
protected zone.

CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION MINISTER IN SYMPATHY WITH ARMENIAN PEOPLE, ITS CULTURAL HERITAGE

Panorama.am
18/01/2012

Armenia’s Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganyan met with Canadian
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney on January 16,
Foreign Ministry press office reported.

At the meeting, the sides discussed different aspects of
Armenian-Canadian relations, the positive role of the Armenian
community of Canada in interstate relations, and the prospects for
expansion of Armenian-Canadian friendly ties.

The Armenian Ambassador dwelt on Armenia’s approaches to regional
issues, Karabakh settlement talks, and the current economic situation
in Armenia.

Jason Kenney expressed his sympathy to the Armenian community of
Canada as well as to the Armenian people and its cultural heritage.

FORMER DINK MURDER SUSPECT TUNCEL SAYS ASSASSINATION WAS WORK OF ERGENEKON

Today’s Zaman
Jan 19 2012
Turkey

The court hearing the Hrant Dink murder trial ruled out the involvement
of an organized criminal structure in the assassination, but one of
the main suspects — who was also released on Wednesday — says the
killing was the job of Ergenekon, a clandestine network whose suspected
members — including generals, military officers and many civilians —
are currently in jail for plotting a military takeover.

Erhan 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 but was acquitted of all charges regarding the Dink murder,
including the prosecutors’ claim that he was the one who gave orders
to Yasin Hayal — the man who was given life for soliciting Dink’s
shooter — has spoken to Today’s Zaman, stating that the court’s
verdict pointing to an absence of an organized network behind the
crime was wrong.

Tuncel said that “there is an organized network behind the murder,”
in responding to questions e-mailed to his lawyer on Jan. 12 while he
was still in jail. Tuncel was released on Wednesday, one day after the
verdict. He has been in jail for five years, meaning he has already
completed the sentence he was dealt for the McDonald’s murder under
provisions of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK).

He has been a controversial figure from the start, allegedly having
known the about the plot to assassinate Dink, although the court
ruling found him innocent of involvement in the murder or of being
part of a crime network that planned the assassination.

Tuncel told Today’s Zaman that the murder was masterminded by
Ergenekon. Tuncel said Ergenekon sought to blame the murder on the
segments of society it had as its targets. He said there were many
shady aspects about the role of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command
of the murder. “Of course, there is also the Col. Ali Oz factor,”
he said in a four-page, handwritten letter in response to Today’s
Zaman’s e-mail received on Thursday.

In July of last year, the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace
convicted six officers, including Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander Col.
Oz, on charges of dereliction of duty for their role in the failure
to prevent the murder of Dink. The suspects were accused of assisting
the murderers at the time that the plan to assassinate Dink was being
devised. Other suspects in the case testified that Col. Oz knew about
the plot but did nothing to prevent it.

Tuncel said for the murder to be solved in a true sense, “the forces
supporting” Yasin Hayal — who was sentenced to life in prison for
soliciting the shooter, Ogun Samast, to commit the murder — should
be found out. Tuncel firmly believes that the Dink murder was part of
a coup plan devised by Ergenekon. “Their plan was to take over the
intelligence unit of the police force and then eliminate all those
opposing the planned coup d’état. They wanted to stage this coup,”
he said.

Tuncel also talked about a book written by Nedim Å~^ener — a
journalist currently jailed in the trial into the news website
OdaTV — which prosecutors say acted as the media mouthpiece for
Ergenekon. Å~^ener’s book investigating the Dink murder only showed
a portion of the real relationships. He also said that former Trabzon
Police Chief ReÅ~_at Altay destroyed all the evidence concerning the
Dink murder.

He also claimed that former Deputy Police Chief Emin Arslan —
currently jailed on charges of involvement in illegal narcotic trade
— was the person who handled the narco-business run by Ergenekon. He
said Arslan, along with former intelligence department chief Sabri
Uzun and former Police Chief Hanefi Avcı, attempted to disrupt the
investigation by hinting at the wrong target.

Tuncel said the perpetrators of the Dink murder wanted to undermine
Ramazan Akyurek, who was the head of the intelligence department of the
National Police Department at the time of the murder, and Intelligence
Bureau Region C Director Ali Fuat Yılmazer. Both men were the targets
of allegations during the Dink murder investigation. He claimed that
Akyurek had become a target for Ergenekon for trying to investigate
the 2006 Council of State murder, which is now being probed by the
prosecutors conducting the investigation into Ergenekon.

“At that time in 2007, anybody who tried to mess with Ergenekon got
into trouble.”

He also said that Veli Kucuk, a former general and a chief suspect
in the Ergenekon trial, and ultranationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz,
another suspect in the trial, made conscious efforts to turn Dink
into a target for extreme right groups. “An ultranationalist hit man
killing an Armenian journalist was the perfect equation no one would
have any objections to,” he said.