Author: Badalian Vardan

CONGRESSMAN ROTHMAN: ARMENIA SUFFERS

Turkish NY

Dec 1 2011
NY

Congressman Steve Rothman, representing Hudson, Bergen and Passaic
regions of New Jersey at the U.S. Congress, met the representatives
of Turkish American community. Advisory Board Member of Turks Living
Abroad Committee Member Ali Cınar and Ä°brahim KurtuluÅ~_, Turkish
American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TACCI) board member
Rıdvan Sezer and Vice President of Turkestanian Association Turan
Ayaz attended to the meeting.

During the meeting Congressman Rothman stressed the importance of
Turkey for United States. Stating that the contributions of Turkey to
the world peace within the war against terrorism is very important
Rothman said that Turkey’s importance in the region became even
larger following the latest crisis in the Middle East. Wishing for
Turkish-Israeli ties to return its previous good status, Rothman
stated that the developments between two countries saddens many U.S.

Congressmen including himself.

Armenia Suffers

Also adding that Turkey’s neighbouring country, Armenia is experiencing
though times economically, Rothman said that the country should focus
on the future and try to fix its relations with Turkey.

Also calling Turkish students to fulfill their internships at his
office, Rotham said “I want to be much more closer to Turkish American
community”.

Turkish American community representatives informed Congressman over
the strategical and economical strength of Turkey besides the reasons
of the strained relations with Israel. Calling the Congressman Rothman
to join Congressinal Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans, Turkish
community representatives stressed that he can serve as a bridge of
peace between the Turks and the Armenians in the region he represents.

MEDIATORS STAND AGAINST STATUS QUO IN KARABAKH CONFLICT

news.az
Dec 1 2011
Azerbaijan

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier,
Robert Bradtke and Igor Popov released the following statement.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Bernard Fassier
of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of
the Russian Federation) and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk (Personal
Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office) traveled November
28-30 to Yerevan and Baku.

The Co-Chairs were accompanied by Ambassador Jacques Faure, who will
succeed Ambassador Fassier as the French Co-Chair of the Minsk Group,
the mediators said in a statement, published on the OSCE website.

In Yerevan the Co-Chairs met with President Sargsian, Foreign Minister
Nalbandian, and Defense Minister Ohanyan; in Baku they met with
President Aliyev, Foreign Minister Mammadyarov, and Defense Minister
Abiyev. In all these meetings, the Co-Chairs reaffirmed the strong
commitment of their countries to assisting the sides in achieving a
lasting and peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Noting recent reports of incidents along the Line of Contact, the
Co-Chairs stressed again to the Presidents the importance of respecting
the 1994 ceasefire agreement. They reiterated that such incidents
demonstrate the need to implement the proposed mechanism to investigate
incidents along the front-lines, on which the Presidents have agreed
in principle. The Co-Chairs also discussed additional measures for
enhancing confidence through people-to-people exchanges and efforts
to preserve places of worship, cultural sites, and cemeteries.

On November 29, the Co-Chairs crossed the border between Armenia
and Azerbaijan by foot, and met on each side with local officials
to discuss the situation in the border region. On November 30, the
Co-Chairs met with representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijanis,
and underscored that a peaceful settlement must include the right
of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their
former places of residence.

Looking ahead to the December OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in
Vilnius, the Co-Chairs urged the sides to use this opportunity to
reaffirm their commitment to seeking a peaceful settlement and moving
beyond the unacceptable status quo.

BAKU REACTS TO DENIAL OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH’S ARMENIAN COMMUNITY FROM BERLIN MEETING

Trend
Dec 1 2011
Azerbaijan

Baku reacted to the denial of the Armenian community of
Nagorno-Karabakh [Azerbaijan’s enclave under Armenian occupation]
from the dialogue with Azerbaijani community, which was to be held
in Berlin on November 28.

The negotiations between the two communities are one of the main
directions of resolving the relations, Head of the Presidential
Administration Public and Political Department Ali Hasanov told media
in Baku today.

He stressed that official Baku attaches great importance to this issue.

“The Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh was always ready to
participate in the negotiations,” he said. “But it is necessary to
understand why the Armenians have not attended the talks. This means
that they do not want to stop their policy of aggression and use the
negotiations to delay the problem. Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated
that this policy has no future. Ultimately, this somehow may lead to
military confrontation.”

He said Armenian formal and informal bodies seek to avoid any
negotiations, trying to prolong the situation after the occupation
of Azerbaijani territories and achieving certain goals.

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.

1915 WAS GREAT TRAGEDY, BUT IT IS NOT US CONGRESS’ AFFAIR – CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN

news.am
Dec 1 2011
Armenia

ISTANBUL. – Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the US House of Representatives stated it is inappropriate
for the US Congress to deal with the recognition of the 1915 Armenian
Genocide.

She noted that the efforts toward recognizing as genocide the
violence that occurred in the latter period of the Ottoman Empire
is a disturbing topic. “That violence was a tragedy, but giving
those massacres a correct historical recognition is a very delicate
topic. I believe it is inappropriate for the Congress to deal with
their recognition. Instead, Armenia and Turkey could directly deal
with that issue. I support the proposal that those tragic events be
examined with cooperation between Armenian and Turkish historians,”
said Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
of the US House of Representatives, Star daily of Turkey writes.

THERE WAS GENOCIDE IN DERSIM, WE SHOULD HAVE FACED 1915 LONG TIME AGO – TURKISH JOURNALIST

news.am
Dec 1 2011
Armenia

ISTANBUL. – The topic of 1937-1938 massacres in Dersim (today’s
Tunceli, Turkey) has transferred to television broadcasts. Turkey’s
pro-government Beyaz TV Company’s program host Nagehan Alci caused
great discontent because of her bold statements.

On live broadcast, the courageous host defined what occurred in Dersim
as genocide and this received a quick reaction from the program’s
moderator and guests. The moderator noted that the “genocide”
term is dangerous, since Turkey is battling for long years against
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “Like a calamity, the Armenian
Genocide problem hangs down Turkey like a sword, every year,” the
moderator said.

And in response, Nagehan Alci stressed that the events in 1915 were a
shame and that if Turkey had sensibly faced those events a long time
ago, it would not have found itself in such situation.

To note, Nagehan Alci had visited Armenia and Karabakh two years ago,
and her interviews had displeased the Azerbaijanis and the Turkish
nationalists.

Thousands of Armenians, who had escaped from the 1915 Genocide and
found refuge in the villages of Dersim, were subjected to a second
genocide, this time in 1938.

ARMENIAN ECONOMIST AWARDED BY TURKISH GALATASARAY UNION

news.am
Dec 1 2011
Armenia

ANKARA. – Turkey-based Galatasaray Alumni Union, established by
the Turkish famous Galatasaray Lyceum graduates, awarded famous
Istanbul-Armenian economist Daron Acemoglu.

Since 1908 each year the Union awards the citizens who brought a
great benefit to Turkey with their international activity, statement
on the Union’s webpage reads.

“The Union decided to grant the Galatasaray reward to Istanbul-Armenian
Acemoglu, who has its unique place in the world economy,” the
statement reads.

Acemoglu was born in Istanbul, Turkey. He graduated from the
Galatasaray High School in Istanbul in 1986. He got his B.Sc. degree
from the University of York, UK and his M.Sc. degree in Econometrics
and Mathematical Economics and then his Ph.D. degree in 1992 from
the London School of Economics. He is currently Professor of Applied
Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and winner of
the 2005 John Bates Clark Medal. He is the 8th among most cited 20
economists in the world according to IDEAS/RePEc. In comparison,
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman is the 13th.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Director
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Watch our latest videos on YouTube here:

THE FRENCH PARLIAMENTARIAN CHRISTIAN VANNESTE VISITS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

On Sunday 20 November 2011, His Holiness Aram I received in his office MP
Christian Vanneste and Mr. Sam Rakoubian, who is well known through his
advocacy work on the denial of the Armenian Genocide.

During the meeting, the guests and the Catholicos discussed the situation in
the Middle East and the Christian presence in the region. They also talked
about the Armenian Genocide and the role of France. Catholicos Aram I then
asked Mr Vanneste to thank President Nicolas Sarkozy for supporting the
recognition of the cause; he continued, “as we prepare to commemorate the
100th anniversary of this violent act perpetrated by Turkey, we must direct
our demand towards compensation”.

##
Photos:

ORPHANS OF THE GENOCIDE” TO BE SCREENED IN HOLLYWOOD

armradio.am
02.12.2011 11:05

The Armenian National Committee – Hollywood Chapter will host an
exciting double event this Saturday, December 3rd in the recently
opened Armenian Youth Center in Hollywood.

T the ANC-Hollywood will screen Armenoid Production’s “Orphans of the
Genocide,” a three-part documentary about the tragic stories of more
than 150,000 Armenian Genocide orphans.

Made by four-time regional Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, Bared
Maronian, the film is nominated for an Emmy Award. Admission to the
screening is free and donations will be accepted in support of the
full completion of the documentary.

Right afterward, the ANC-Hollywood will screen the grueling boxing
match between Anselmo Moreno and Vic Darchinyan.

Paul Seradarian, chairman of the ANC-Hollywood, sums up the evening
as the Armenian community’s movement “from tragedy to victory.”

“It is exciting to bring the Little Armenia community together to
understand our tragic past, but also to fight for our bright future,”
said ANC-Hollywood volunteer Sergey Avetisyan.

AZERBAIJAN VIOLATED CEASEFIRE 1150 TIMES

Story from Lragir.am News:

Published: 13:04:37 – 02/12/2011

In the period of November 1-30, the Azerbaijani armed forces violated
the truce at the Armenian-Azerbaijani frontline more than 1150 times.

At the border with Armenia, more than 200 cases of violations of
ceasefire were reported. At the border with NKR, Azerbaijan violated
the truce over 950 times.

Azerbaijan soldiers shot from different arms, including sniper guns,
more than 300 times.

The Armenian Armed Forces respect the creasefire and resort to
responsive actions only in case of extreme necessary. The Ministry
of Defense of Armenia reported.

TURQUIE: LE FILTRAGE DU NET DU BTK

Source/Lien : Reporters Sans Frontieres
02-12-2011

Info Collectif VAN – – Le Collectif VAN vous
propose cette information publiee sur le site des Reporters Sans
Frontières le jeudi 1er decembre 2011.

Le filtrage du Net du BTK : une politique de censure masquee

Alors que la Conference de l’Internet en Turquie s’est ouverte a Izmir,
le 30 novembre 2011, le nouveau système de filtrage centralise “pour
un Internet sûr” mis en place par le Conseil de la Communication et
l’Information Technologiques (BTK), le 22 novembre dernier, suscite
une vive polemique dans le pays et a l’international. Après le recours
du site d’information sur les droits de l’homme Bianet, l’Association
pour une Informatique Alternative (Alternatif Bilisim Dernegi) a elle
aussi saisi le Conseil d’Etat, le 4 novembre dernier, pour demander
la suppression du dispositif, qui, s’il est facultatif, n’en reste
pas moins liberticide. Si le filtrage vise officiellement a proteger
les internautes, et en particulier les mineurs, contre tout contenu
“choquant” en censurant certains mots-cles, des tests ont recemment
permis de constater que certains sites etaient abusivement bloques.

“Le BTK veut faire croire qu’en laissant le choix aux internautes,
il ne pratique pas la censure. Pretendre que l’application de filtrage
permet de securiser sa connexion Internet est un mensonge ehonte.

Certains sites auront beau etre inaccessibles, la connexion Internet
de l’utilisateur n’en sera pas plus sûre. Vouloir proteger les
internautes, et en particulier les enfants et les jeunes, contre la
pornographie en ligne est une initiative louable, mais la solution
du filtrage est inadaptee et menace la liberte d’expression en ligne,
comme l’a recemment affirme la Cour de Justice de l’Union Europeenne,
notamment en raison des risques de surblocage. S’il ne s’agit de
filtrer que les contenus a caractère pornographique, alors pourquoi
des termes relatifs aux mouvements separatistes kurdes, par exemple,
sont-ils parmi la liste noire des mots-cles censures ?”, s’est
insurgee Reporters sans frontières. “Nous denoncons une politique de
censure deguisee. Le BTK doit abandonner ce dispositif, qui renforce
le filtrage du Net en Turquie. Nous appelons toutes les entites de
contrôle des telecommunications a cesser la surenchère dans cette
course a la censure. Le libre accès a Internet doit etre garanti pour
tous, et la definition de ce qui est choquant ou non doit relever du
libre choix des familles, et non de l’Etat”, a conclu l’organisation.

Les internautes qui souhaitent souscrire a l’application de filtrage
auront le choix entre deux formules, un forfait famille ou un forfait
enfant. Pour le moment, seuls 22 000 internautes, sur un total de 11,5
millions, en ont fait la demande. Les fournisseurs d’accès Internet
(FAI) sont obliges de proposer l’application de filtrage a tous
leurs clients. Les sites pornographiques, comme les autres portails
“suspects”, etaient auparavant bloques sur decision de justice. Ils
seront desormais automatiquement filtres pour les internautes ayant
souscrit le forfait, selon une procedure encore peu claire que
Reporters sans frontières demande aux autorites de preciser.

La commission chargee de definir les critères du filtrage est
composee de onze membres, majoritairement issus du gouvernement. Son
independance et son impartialite peuvent donc etre remises
en question. Elle a etabli une liste de 130 mots-cles juges
“dangereux”, en anglais, en allemand et en turc, parmi lesquels
“pornographie”, “sexe”, “Verbot” (interdiction, en allemand) mais
aussi les mots “belle-mère”, “inceste”, ou meme “gay”. Ce genre
d’amalgame discriminatoire ne fera qu’etendre la censure a de
simples sites d’information et de prevention tout en favorisant un
climat d’homophobie. Les mots-cles relatifs aux groupes politiques
separatistes tel que le PKK (Parti des travailleurs kurdes, interdit
en Turquie) sont egalement filtres, ce qui montre clairement que le
BTK n’a pas que les sites pornographiques en ligne de mire.

Yaman Akdeniz, professeur et recteur adjoint de la faculte de Droit
de l’universite de Bilgi d’Istanbul, denonce “une disposition
arbitraire”. “Internet rentre petit a petit sous le contrôle de
l’autorite. Le fait que [le filtrage] soit optionnel ne resout pas
les problèmes qu’il entraîne. Nous allons poursuivre nos demarches
judiciaires au nom de la liberte d’expression et de la democratie’~R, a
precise le fondateur de Cyber-rights.org au correspondant de Reporters
sans frontières. Selon Akdeniz, les Internautes ayant opte pour le
forfait ‘~Renfant’~R ne peuvent avoir accès au site de l’evolutionniste
Richard Dawkins (richarddawkins.net, voir capture d’ecran), alors
que celui d’Adnan Oktar (), defenseur de theorie
creationniste, leur est accessible.

Le correspondant de Reporters sans frontières a egalement pu tester
plusieurs sites, grâce a l’outil Guvenlinet, qui permet de determiner
quels sont les noms de domaine accessibles en fonction du forfait
choisi. Il apparaît que le site de Yasam Radyo (“Radio Vie”, qui
diffuse des programmes culturels sur les minorites) est bloque avec
le forfait enfant. Ce forfait ne donne pas non plus accès a Youtube
(site de partage de videos en ligne) ou Facebook. Le reseau social
n’est d’ailleurs accessible avec le forfait famille que si l’internaute
en fait la demande. Si Akdeniz admet qu’il est comprehensible qu’un
enfant de cinq ans ne puisse pas avoir accès a YouTube, il trouve
exagere de l’interdire a des adolescents de plus de quatorze ans.

Les internautes turcs ne restent pas indifferents face a cette
nouvelle initiative du BTK. Pour protester contre la cybercensure,
le site Senin Yuzunden (“A cause de toi”) les invite a poster des
photos avec les yeux bandes, dans la cadre de la conference d’Ismiz
qui s’achève le 2 decembre prochain.

La Turquie figure dans la liste des “Pays sous surveillance” dans
le dernier rapport de Reporters sans frontières sur les “Ennemis
d’Internet”, publie le 11 mars 2011.

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