Author: Badalian Vardan

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 22 2011

Ariel Cohen: Unprecedented case when ethnic group to dictate US administration
22 December 2011, 12:26 (GMT+04:00) Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 22 / Trend
E. Tariverdiyeva /

An unprecedented case has arisen whereby an ethnic group based in the
U.S. is trying to dictate whom the presidential administration may or
may not appoint as an ambassador, Trend Expert Council member and
Heritage Foundation expert on Russia, Eurasia and international energy
policies Ariel Cohen said, while commenting on the situation on the
possible withdrawal of the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, if the
Senate does not vote for him.

“Matt Bryza, whom I have known for 24 years, is an outstanding
diplomat and a real expert on energy and South Caucasus. “It will be a
great loss if the Administration and the Senate will not find a way to
extend his service,” Cohen told Trend.

On December 29, 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed a career
diplomat, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Bryza as
ambassador to Azerbaijan. However this was done bypassing the Senate
which blocked his appointment for a few months under pro-Armenian
senators’ pressure. If the U.S. Senate does not approve Mr Bryza’s
candidacy in the near future, he will be withdrawn.

The Armenian lobby is making every effort to ensure the Senate rejects
Mr Bryza’s candidacy.

It is inexcusable that such a great asset for the US foreign policy
interests, will not be serving his country in the area he knows so
well, he said.

“I hope his successor is going to be as good as he is. However,
wherever Matt Bryza will work, he will be a great asset to his
employer and to the US,” he said.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 23 2011

FM says Azerbaijan will hold wait-and-see position on France’s
decision to adopt “Armenian genocide” bill
23 December 2011, 13:22 (GMT+04:00) Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.23 / Trend
S. Agayeva /

Azerbaijan will hold a wait-and-see position before taking any steps
in connection with the French National Assembly’s decision to adopt a
bill criminalizing denial of the so-called “Armenian Genocide”,
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a
press-conference on Friday.

“Adopting the bill with 10 percent of total number of MPs is not
democratic and it cannot be regarded as fair result of the voting.
Baku will wait for further developments on the adoption of the bill
and believes that its final adoption is inadmissible,” Mammadyarov
said.

On Thursday, the French parliament adopted a bill criminalizing denial
of the so-called “Armenian Genocide”.

Some 45 out of 577 French MPs participated in the voting, 38 of which
voted for, while 7 voted against the adoption of the bill.

The bill envisages about one year imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000
euros for denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

Mammadyarov said if France held a fair position, it would not stir up
ages-old history, thus aggravating the situation in the region. “If
France wants to hold a fair position, then it must voice its position
on the issue of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, on the Khojaly
tragedy and availability of about one million Azerbaijani refugees and
IDPs. Such an attitude by France, as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group,
is regrettable,” Mammadyarov said.

Mammadyarov stressed that recently the French co-chairman Bernard
Fassier during his visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia said the occupied
territories are the biggest problem, and being in Yerevan he added
that the Nagorno-Karabakh will remain as part of Azerbaijan.

“We consider this position is regarded as Paris’s official position,” he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.

Trend, Azerbaijan
Dec 22 2011

Baku condemns adoption of `Armenian genocide’ bill by French parliament
22 December 2011, 20:18 (GMT+04:00) Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 22 / Trend M.Aliyev /

Baku has called adoption of a bill on the so-called “Armenian
genocide” by the French Parliament today unfair.

“We have stated that this decision is unfair. It affects on France’s
image as a democratic state and society. This means that freedom of
thought and opinion is greatly restricted in France,” Head of the
Foreign Relations Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential
Administration Novruz Mammadov told journalists on Thursday.

He said the French Parliament’s decision, indeed, could affect
relations between our two countries.

“It is a decision adopted by one house of the French Parliament. It is
necessary to wait a little. Otherwise, adequate measures may be
taken,” he said.

On Thursday, the French parliament adopted a bill criminalizing denial
of the so-called “Armenian Genocide”, CNN Turk TV channel reported.

The bill envisages about one year imprisonment and a fine worth 45,000
euros for denial of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

It is expected that after adoption of the bill Turkey will break the
diplomatic and economic relations with Paris.

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 23 2011

Why are we angry?

MEHMET ALÄ° BÄ°RAND
Saturday,December 24 2011, Your time is 10:07:46 AM

Let’s not get angry at this bill the French Parliament has passed. If
there is one person to be ashamed, it is French President Nicolas
Sarkozy. He is narrow-minded to sacrifice relations with a huge
country. The French public should also be ashamed. They have also not
objected to a bill that has butchered freedom of expression. They have
ignored this anomaly. They don’t even know of this diplomatic murder.

Actually, we are the ones who should be the least angry.

In 2001, during a time when the Turkish-friendly President Jacques
Chirac was in power, the French Parliament accepted that `genocide’
was done to the Armenians. So many years have passed and our relations
continued. First we protested, kicking up a fuss. We voiced threats
and then we forgot about it.

This bill that has passed now went before Parliament three times
before. The same thing happened every time. Switzerland accepted the
same bill, we again expressed our threats and then we also forgot
about that.

The situation is different this time. This time, the subject was
entirely entangled in France’s domestic political game. Both Sarkozy
and his rival in next year’s presidential elections, the Socialist
François Hollande, are racing each other for Armenian votes.

These two leaders are not acting as such because they have sacrificed
Turkey. They are using this bill because they know Turks will shout,
protest and then surrender. In other words, Turkey is in this
situation because of its impassivity over the years, because it is
unable to question its past, because it is unable to take any proper
or bold steps about genocide allegations.

It should be France that is ashamed

France will also lose. Before anything else, a country which is the
champion of freedom of thought and expression is silencing people.

Not only that: It is violating its own constitution and Europe’s most
basic principles. Maybe it is not aware of it at the moment, but the
French public will question in the future what Sarkozy has done and
criticize him for putting his country in a shameful situation.

It seems that French political leaders are very narrow thinkers,
whereas we used to regard them differently.

Turkish-French citizens can appeal to high court

What’s done cannot be undone. Now, let’s look ahead. Let’s discuss
what should be done. Because I have been covering this subject for
years, I have experience regarding what can be done to prevent the
fire from destroying the entire building:

– This bill that has passed in the lower house of Parliament has to be
voted on in the French Senate as well. Even though it looks very
difficult in the short term, a general campaign is required to prevent
the Senate vote. If we want this to be effective, there are things we
have to do and not do.

– We should leave those stances such as `But you have also done
genocide.’ This discourse means, `If we have done it, you have also
done it; why are you cornering us?’ It is a wrong approach. It
backfires. It will not scare them. It has no effect.

– Making threats and especially opting for boycotts and embargoes will
only serve to hurt ourselves. Trade between Turkey and France is 13
billion euros. Why punish ourselves with embargoes? For example,
closing of the Renault here damages Turkey, not France.

– Before the Senate vote, an intense campaign for the French public
has to be launched and most importantly it should not be as late as it
has always been up to now.

– There are 170,000 French citizens of Turkish origin in France. They
can make an appeal to the French Constitutional Court as citizens on
grounds that this bill is against the constitution.

– Turkey should start facing its past. It should demonstrate that it
is not afraid of it. Such an approach will provide a healthier
confrontation not only with France but also the `100th anniversary of
the genocide’ hurricane we will encounter in 2015.

– Ankara should see that the end is nearing regarding the Armenian
claims. The period is over now, the times when we used to issue harsh
reactions, threats and documentaries by using our strategic value.
More precisely, that approach is a thing of the past. The Armenians
have convinced the international public and we have done nothing. If,
now, extremely bold and unprecedented steps can be taken, we can
mitigate the loss we will suffer to a certain extent.

If we are to forget everything tomorrow and do nothing as we have done
up until now, we should know that we will get into huge trouble and
should prepare for the worst.
December/23/2011

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 22 2011

Azerbaijanis protest at France vote on Armenia ‘genocide’
BAKU –

Activists in Azerbaijan held a rare street rally on Thursday in
protest against the French parliament’s vote on a law making it
illegal to deny that the mass killings of Armenians during World War I
was genocide.

Around 50 people from Azerbaijani diaspora and war veterans’ groups
demonstrated outside the French embassy in Baku, shouting slogans like
“People of France, stop Sarkozy!” and “The French parliament should be
fair!” A statement was read out at the protest saying that the law
would restrict freedom of speech and is aimed at courting the Armenian
community in France, whose votes are being sought by President Nicolas
Sarkozy’s UMP party ahead of elections next year.

The French bill proposes to make it a crime to deny the century-old
deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians at the hands of Turkish
Ottoman forces amounted to a genocide.

Turkic-speaking, mainly Muslim Azerbaijan is an enemy of Armenia and a
close ally of Turkey, which rejects the genocide allegation.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war in the 1990s over the disputed
territory of Nagorny Karabakh, and no final peace deal has yet been
signed despite years of negotiations.

An official at the Azerbaijani presidential administration said on
Wednesday that there was no genocide of Armenians.

“Their claim is fabricated and has nothing to do with historical
reality,” said the official, Ali Hasanov.

December/22/2011

Europe1
Dec 23 2011

Génocide arménien : la France isolée ?

Par Charles Carrasco

DÉCRYPTAGE – Plusieurs pays ont reconnu le génocide mais peu l’ont
inscrit dans la loi.

La question du génocide arménien est restée très longtemps taboue.
Jeudi, la France a fait un grand pas pour sa reconnaissance en
inscrivant dans “le marbre” de la loi la pénalisation des génocides,
dont celui de l’Arménie. Ce texte prévoit un an d’emprisonnement et
45.000 euros d’amende pour toute personne niant publiquement l’un des
deux génocides reconnu par la loi française. Jusqu’à présent, seule la
négation du génocide des Juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale
était punie par la loi. Si cette loi a déclenché une levée de
boucliers en Turquie, la France est loin d’être le seul pays à avoir
reconnu le génocide. Par contre, c’est l’un des seuls à le pénaliser.

Ceux qui l’ont reconnu. Officiellement, l’Uruguay a été le premier
pays à reconnaître le génocide arménien en 1965, suivi dans les années
80 par Chypre. La véritable prise en compte du génocide arménien n’est
apparue réellement qu’en 1987. Le Parlement européen et le Conseil de
l’Europe reconnaissent conjointement le génocide qui a eu lieu entre
avril 1915 et juillet 1916 et qui a coûté la vie à plus d’un million
d’Arméniens.

Deux autres puissances mondiales se sont également prononcées sur les
massacres perpétrés sur le peuple arménien : la Chambre des
représentants des Etats-Unis en 1984 et la Douma russe en 1995. Toutes
les deux ont reconnu le caractère de “génocide”.

Depuis, la Suède, le Liban , le Vatican, l’Argentine ou bien encore le
Canada ont reconnu le génocide arménien. Le Bundestag allemand a
accepté une résolution condamnant les massacres mais ne reconnaît pas
le “génocide” tout comme la Grande-Bretagne.

Ceux qui le pénalisent. Deux pays ont voté la pénalisation de la
négation du génocide arménien. En Suisse, c’est “l’affaire Perincek”
qui a fait jurisprudence. A plusieurs reprises, Dogu Perincek, le
président du parti des travailleurs de Turquie, a nié publiquement le
génocide arménien lors de plusieurs déplacements en Suisse. En 2007,
il a été condamné par le tribunal fédéral suisse. C’est une première
mondiale. : le tribunal a considéré que la négation du génocide
constitue une menace pour l’identité du peuple arménien.

En 2011, la Slovaquie a également voté un projet de loi criminalisant
la négation du génocide. Dès 2009, le ministre de la Justice, Stefan
Harabin avait annoncé qu’il préparait une modification de la loi
punissant ceux qui nient l’Holocauste juif, en l’étendant au génocide
arménien. Désormais, ce délit est puni de cinq ans d’emprisonnement.

Ceux qui ne l’ont pas encore reconnu.La Turquie, où la question est
toujours très sensible, refuse toujours de reconnaître le génocide.
Certains députés UMP, comme Renaud Muselier, parle de “négationnisme
d’Etat”. Toujours est-il que le débat sur la reconnaissance du
génocide arménien est lancé dans plusieurs pays. C’est le cas en
Israël où la gauche laïque fait pression pour promouvoir une motion à
l’Assemblée. Le président de la “Knesset”, Reuven Rivlin, a annoncé
qu’une discussion sur cette question se tiendra le 27 décembre
prochain. Mais les négociations ont peu de chances d’aboutir car le
gouvernement a précisé ne pas vouloir nuire à leur partenariat
stratégique avec l’Azerbaïdjan, un fidèle allié de la Turquie.

L’info.re
Antenne Reunion Télévision
23 dec 2011

La Turquie réagit au vote du texte sur le génocide arménien

Si l’Arménie a exprimé sa gratitude envers Paris pour l’adoption de la
proposition de loi sur le génocide arménien de 1915, la Turquie a, par
contre, décidé de geler ses relations diplomatiques avec la France.
Elle a fait savoir par le biais de son chef de gouvernement, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, que le vote d’hier ouvrait des « plaies irréparables
et très graves » pour les Turcs.

Alors que l’Arménie a témoigné sa reconnaissance envers la France pour
le vote à l’Assemblée de la proposition de loi sur le génocide
arménien, la Turquie a, pour sa part, annoncé la suspension immédiate
des rencontres politiques, économiques et militaires prévues avec la
France. Les relations commerciales entre les deux pays s’en trouvent
ainsi menacées.

« Par l’adoption à l’Assemblée nationale de cette proposition de loi
criminalisant la négation des génocides, la France a de nouveau
confirmé sa haute mission de berceau des droits de l’homme et démontré
une fois plus son engagement en faveur des valeurs humaines
universelles », a déclaré le ministre arménien des Affaires
étrangères, Edward Nalbandian, dans un communiqué.

Pour sa part, le chef de gouvernement turc, en qualifiant de «
politique fondée sur le racisme, la discrimination et la xénophobie »
le texte adopté hier à l’Assemblée, a annoncé que son pays annule
également « l’autorisation qui était faite aux avions de chasse et aux
btiments de guerre de l’armée française d’atterrir ou d’accoster en
Turquie », rapporte Le nouvel Observateur.

La semaine dernière, le Premier ministre turc a déjà adressé une
lettre au président Nicolas Sarkozy, dans laquelle la Turquie avait
prévenu la France que l’adoption de cette proposition de loi sur le
génocide arménien entraînerait de graves conséquences sur les
relations entre les deux pays.
Réagissant sur la question, le président de la commission des Affaires
étrangères de la chambre des députés turque, Volkan Bozkir, a estimé
que la France, peu favorable à l’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union
Européenne, a fait une « erreur de calcul » en adoptant le texte. « Sa
(ndlr : Turquie) demande d’adhésion à l’Union européenne est presque
stoppée et son économie est une des plus dynamiques du monde avec une
croissance de 8 % au troisième trimestre », a-t-il rappelé.

La Turquie, étant le quatrième client (hors pays de l’UE) de la France
dans le secteur de l’énergie et celui des transports, menace ainsi de
pénaliser les relations commerciales en vue, notamment la vente des
avions à Turkish Airlines ou encore la construction d’une centrale
nucléaire, pour laquelle EDF serait en compétition.

Par la voix du ministre des affaires étrangères, Alain Juppé, le
gouvernement français a invité la Turquie à ne pas « surréagir ». « Je
regrette cette réaction », a-t-il déclaré. Considérant la Turquie
comme un « partenaire important », le premier ministre de déclarer : «
j’en appelle au bon sens et à la mesure ».

Rappelons au passage que cette année, le commerce bilatéral entre la
Turquie et la France devrait atteindre 12 milliards d’euros.

Greek Reporter
Dec 23 2011

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Says Turkey Does Not Have to Overreact
By Fani Toli on December 23, 2011

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday that Turkey
should not overreact after France’s lower house of parliament adopted
a draft bill criminalizing the denial of `Armenians’genocide.’

`What I wish is that our Turkish friends do not overreact,’ Juppe said
as Ankara announced to take diplomatic reprisal measures by recalling
Turkish ambassador to Paris, suspending all political visits and
freezing military cooperation with France.

In 2001, France passed a law recognizing the killing of Armenians as
genocide. Five years later, the French National Assembly first passed
a bill considering an offence to deny the mass killing of Armenians
but was rejected by the Senate.

Forged by members of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling party
Union for Popular Movement (UMP), the bill mandated a 45,000-euro
($58,750) fine and a year in jail for offenders.

Turkey which repeatedly rejected the allegations considered Paris
genocide bill a move to win the votes of 500,000 ethnic Armenians in
France in next year’s elections.

Tension clouded Franco-Turkish economic and political relations as
French head of State stands firm in refusing Turkey bid to join the
European Union.

TURKEY ABOLISHES TURCO-FRENCH INTER-PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP

Today’s Zaman
Dec 23 2011
Turkey

Hundreds of Turkish lawmakers have resigned en masse from the
Turkey-France Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group, abolishing the
mechanism and adding to a massive flow of reactions from Turkish
officials following the approval of a controversial bill in the lower
house of the French parliament on Thursday.

Speaking on behalf of the resigned ruling party lawmakers
participating in the friendship mechanism, Parliament Speaker Cemil
Cicek announced on Friday that Turkey had abolished the group following
the resignations of most of its members. “There is no point remaining
friends with such a country [France],” Cicek told a group of reporters
a day after the French parliament approved a bill that proposes making
it illegal to deny that mass killings of Armenians in 1915 by Ottoman
Turks was genocide and forwarded it to be put on the agenda of the
French senate.

“The French National Assembly’s approval of the mentioned bill is
clearly a hostile attitude,” Oktay Vural of the opposition Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) said as he announced that MHP lawmakers of the
friendship group were also suspending their memberships until the
“French senate drops the bill.” Vural stressed that the approval
defied ties of friendship between Turkey and France.

The inter-parliamentary group consisted of 357 members, most of
whom were lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party).

FRANCE OWES TURKEY AN HISTORIC APOLOGY FOR FAILING TO PROTECT TURKISH DIPLOMATS FROM ARMENIAN TERRORISTS, SAYS EU MINISTER BAGIS

Anadolu Agency
Dec 23 2011
Turkey

Ankara, 22 December: Turkish Minister for European Union (EU) Affairs
and Chief Negotiator, Egemen Bagis, said Thursday that protecting
foreign citizens was the honour of the host country.

In a message issued on Thursday to remember the late Turkish Tourism
Attache Yilmaz Colpan who was killed in Paris by Armenian terrorists
32 years ago, Bagis said that “as all martyrs, Colpan will always be
in the hearts of the Turkish nation”.

It is so painful to remember Yilmaz Colpan on the same day that an
Armenian resolution is being debated at the French Parliament. It is
the honour of a country to protect foreign nationals. France owes
Turkey an historic apology for failing to protect Yilmaz Colpan,
Ismail Erez, Talip Yener, Resat Morali, Tecelli Ari, Cemal Ozen
and other Turkish diplomats and nationals from Armenian terrorists,
Bagis stressed.

The French Parliament on Thursday will vote on a resolution that
criminalizes the rejection of Armenian allegations pertaining to the
incidents of 1915 with a prison term of one year and a monetary fine
of 45,000 euros.

Turkey strongly opposes the issue of the incidents of 1915 being
used as a tool in French politics. Many believe that French President
Nicolas Sarkozy supports the Armenian resolution in order to garner
support from France’s Armenian population that number around 500,000.

France will hold the first round of next year’s presidential election
on April 22 and the second round run-off on May 6. French President
Sarkozy is running for a second term.