Author: Badalian Vardan

FRENCH FORCED ARMENIANS OUT OF CILICIA IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY – HABERTURK

news.am, Armenia
Oct 10 2011

ANKARA. – Head of Armenian Studies Desk at Turkish Historical Society
Professor Kemal Cicek published a letter in Haberturk drawn from U.S.

archives and dated on October 4, 1920. The document contains
description of violence exerted on Armenians by French military troops
after the Treaty of Sevres.

According to the publication, the President of American Committee for
Armenian Independence Arshag Mahdesian wrote to U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson, attaching a letter of an Armenian priest from Izmir. American
Armenians complained that after the Treaty of Sevres the French have
deported 100 thousand Armenians from Cilicia and resettling Turks on
their lands.

“The French forced 14 thousand Armenians out of the refugee camps.

When the Armenian refugees refused to comply with the demand, French
officers threatened to turn machine guns on them. The Armenian
National Union intervened and the French postponed the execution of
their orders,” reads the letter.

The Turkish professor says Armenians and Frenchmen conquered Cilicia
together with the aim of creating an Armenian kingdom, however the
French turned their weapons against Armenians, forcing them disarm
and leave.

“In the course of history France used Armenians for its own ends. This
is true even for today,” said Cicek.

photo of document at

SARKIS G. SOGHANALIAN, ARMS DEALER DUBBED ‘MERCHANT OF DEATH,’ DIES AT 82
By T. Rees Shapiro

Washington Post
Oct 11 2011

Sarkis G. Soghanalian, 82, an international arms dealer known as “the
merchant of death” who sold French howitzers to Saddam Hussein and a
U.S. cargo plane to Moammar Gaddafi, and who also provided his unique
services to the CIA and FBI, died Oct. 5 at a hospital in Hialeah, Fla.

He reportedly suffered from heart disease; his death was confirmed
by his former lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Mr. Soghanalian had a gargantuan presence in the multibillion-dollar
arms market, both because of his heft – he weighed 300 pounds –
and because of his seemingly limitless abilities.

He moved about the world with near impunity because of his cozy
relationship with the U.S. government and its allies. He once dined
at the White House with President Jimmy Carter.

Although he was a felon several times over, no conviction kept Mr.

Soghanalian locked up for long. Geragos confirmed that Mr.

Soghanalian’s clients included the National Security Agency and the
U.S. Secret Service.

The longest stint Mr. Soghanalian served in prison was less than
two years – and even then he was “released under very secretive
circumstances” in the mid-1990s, Geragos said.

Mr. Soghanalian often said the key to his success was discretion
and efficiency. From his Miami-based office, he could procure tens
of thousands of AK-47 rifles, ammunition by the ton and missiles by
the pallet.

He considered himself a fastidious businessman and required proof
of his deadly wares’ delivery. Once, from Lebanese rebel fighters,
he reportedly accepted human ears floating in jars of formaldehyde
for assurance.

In addition to being an arms dealer, Mr. Soghanalian allowed the U.S
government use of his jet fleet. He provided the CIA with chartered
flights with no questions asked and once flew an American physician
to Iraq to examine Hussein’s bad back.

For his allegiance, Mr. Soghanalian was awarded lucrative contracts
with the United States and allied countries. At his peak, he earned
more than $12 million a year.

With such fortune came notoriety, and Mr. Soghanalian was eventually
dubbed “the merchant of death.” It was a moniker he nonchalantly
dismissed.

“I know deep in my heart I’m not doing anything wrong,” he told
the PBS program “Frontline” in 2001. “Alfred Nobel was called ‘the
merchant of death’ when he first made gunpowder, and then they named
it the Nobel Prize.”

Sarkis Garabet Soghanalian was born Feb. 6, 1929, in what used to be
Iskenderun, Syria, and which is now part of Turkey.

To escape persecution, his ethnic Armenian family fled to Lebanon,
where, as a teenager, he served in the French army during World War II.

After developing a fascination with weapons as a mechanic in a tank
division, he decided to pursue a career in the arms business. He
sold Jeeps and Land Rovers throughout the Middle East before moving
up to tanks.

He began working for the U.S. government in the mid-1970s. With the
outbreak of civil war in Lebanon, the CIA paid Mr. Soghanalian to
arm Christian militia fighters with surplus Kalashnikov rifles from
the Soviet Union. In return, the Palestine Liberation Organization
placed a bounty on his head.

Word of Mr. Soghanalian’s smooth operation led him to do transactions
with Gaddafi and to become Hussein’s main weapons supplier in the
1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. With tacit approval from the United
States, Mr. Soghanalian circumvented a U.N. arms embargo and sold
Hussein $1.6 billion in weapons, including advanced French artillery
and U.S. helicopters.

After the Persian Gulf War, Mr. Soghanalian learned that yesterday’s
friend could become today’s enemy. In the early 1990s, he was convicted
in a U.S. District Court in Miami of conspiring to sell 103 helicopters
to Iraq during its war with Iran. He was sentenced to six years in
prison but was released early for helping to dismantle a counterfeiting
operation that was pumping nearly perfect $100 bills into Lebanon.

Mr. Soghanalian said that he preferred to work with U.S. partners
and that he attempted to ensure that his weapons did not reach the
hands of rogues and tyrants – ultimately to little success. An Exocet
anti-ship missile that he sold to Argentina’s military junta sank
the Royal Navy’s HMS Sheffield in the Falklands War.

His marriage to Shirley Soghanalian ended in divorce. Survivors
include two children.

Occasionally, Mr. Soghanalian used his extensive resources for good
will. He sent 26 planes to airlift relief supplies to the Soviet Union
in 1988 when an earthquake killed about 55,000 people and left more
than 750,000 homeless, many of them Armenians.

For his humanitarian efforts, President George H.W. Bush said that Mr.

Soghanalian “strengthened the ties that unite mankind.” In a letter,
Mother Teresa wrote that God would reward the benevolence of Mr.

Soghanalian and his family “a hundredfold.”

EU ENVOY: ARMENIAN-TURKISH DEAL TO BE PROCESSING UNTIL 2015

Panorama, Armenia
Oct 10 2011

“The Armenian-Turkish protocols aren’t processing right now, though
they can change the life in the region. I think that the processes
round the blocked Armenian-Turkish border will start moving until
2015 when the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide will be marked,”
Onno Simons, the EU envoy to Armenia, said on Tuesday during panel
discussions held in Armenia.

The EU diplomat has stated that both Armenia and Turkey are to face
elections, thus any development related to the Genocide issue, should
be anticipated by 2015.

Panel discussions are being held in Armenia titled “Through great
border: Perspective of regional development beyond the closed borders.”

“Though the ratification process of the protocols is suspended”
they will do a favor to the both parties.

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN SLAMS FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Oct 11 2011

RFE/RL — Turkish Prime Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily rejected on
Tuesday French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s calls for Turkey to
recognize the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide. Erdogan accused Sarkozy of playing the
anti-Turkish card to secure reelection and warned of serious damage
to relations between France and Turkey.

Visiting Armenia late last week, Sarkozy repeatedly reaffirmed
France’s official recognition of the genocide and urged Ankara to
stop denying a premeditated government effort to wipe out Ottoman
Turkey’s Armenian population.

“The genocide of Armenians is a historic reality that was recognized
by France. Collective denial is even worse than individual denial,” he
said after laying flowers at the genocide memorial in Yerevan.Sarkozy,
who will be up for reelection next year, also implicitly threatened to
enact, within a “very brief” period, a law that would make Armenian
genocide denial a crime in France. Armenia -French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian lay flowers at
the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, 06Oct2011. â~@~Kâ~@~K”If
Turkey revisited its history, looked it in the face, with its shadows
and highlights, this recognition of the genocide would be sufficient,”
he said. “But if Turkey will not do this, then without a doubt it
would be necessary to go further.”

The Turkish government was quick to denounce those remarks and link
them with the French presidential election. Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu said Sarkozy is thus seeking to gain votes from French
citizens of Armenian descent.Erdogan condemned the French leader in
even stronger terms as he addressed the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.

“This is not political leadership. Politics, first of all, requires
honesty,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying

.”There are 600,000 Armenians in your country but also 500,000 Turks.

You have relations with Turkey,” Erdogan continued, addressing
Sarkozy. “Bearing the title of statesman requires thinking about next
generations, not next elections,” he said.

The French parliament officially recognized the slaughter of some 1.5
million Ottoman Armenians as genocide with a special law adopted in
2001. Although the move strained ties between Paris and Ankara, Turkey,
remains one of France’s major trading partners outside the European
Union.Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan on Friday, Sarkozy
also described as “unacceptable” Turkey’s refusal to unconditionally
reopen its border with Armenia. He at the same time urged his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian to “continue the dialogue with Turkey.”

Sarkozy spoke just days before the second anniversary of the signing
in Zurich of Turkish-Armenian agreements envisaging the normalization
of bilateral ties. Erdogan’s government has made their ratification by
Turkey’s parliament conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Yerevan has rejected this linkage and threatened to formally
annul the accords.

Sarkisian hailed Sarkozy’s calls for genocide recognition in a weekend
speech delivered in Echmiadzin, a historic town 25 kilometers south
of Yerevan. Sarkisian said they disproved his critics’ claims his
Western-backed policy of rapprochement with Turkey will complicate
a broader international recognition of what many historians consider
the first genocide of the 20th century.

RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE IVANISHVILI STRIPPED OF GEORGIAN CITIZENSHIP

Tert.am
20:57 ~U 11.10.11

The Georgian authorities have deprived Bidzina Ivanishvili, a
Georgian-born billionaire living in Russia, of his citizenship,
citing the nation’s ban on dual citizenships.

According to the RIA Novosti, the move came after Ivanishvili said last
week he was ready to sell his businesses in Russia and give away his
Russian and French passports in order to challenge incumbent Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party in next year’s parliamentary
elections.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has been ranked 25th by Forbes in its list of
Russian businessmen with an estimated fortune of $5.5 billion.

The Georgian Justice Ministry issued a statement saying Ivanishvili
was granted French citizenship after receiving his Georgian passport
in July 2004.

“Proceeding from this, given the provisions of the Georgian
constitution and the organic law on Georgian citizenship, Bidzina
Ivanishvili’s Georgian citizenship has been suspended,” the statement
reads.

According to the Georgian constitution, a Georgian citizen cannot
simultaneously be a citizen of another state.

The document does not specify when Ivanishvili was granted his French
passport.

On October 7, Ivanishvili announced plans to set up a political
party uniting “healthy” political forces in Georgia with the goal of
achieving an absolute majority in 2012 elections.

The 56-year-old businessman said in a statement his decision was “due
to the total monopoly held by Mikheil Saakashvili and the recently-made
constitutional amendments which demonstrated Saakashvili’s desire to
stay in power regardless of all constitutional terms.”

The businessman said he was ready to assume the post of Georgian
prime minister or parliamentary speaker.

IN DIRTY POLITICAL FIELD OF ARMENIA EVEN A PARTY LIKE ORINATS YERKIR MAY “RECEIVE” NECESSARY VOTES
by David Stepanyan

arminfo
Tuesday, October 11, 19:33

What is the reason of the domestic political crisis in Armenia and
what are the ways to its management? Robert Kocharyan’s possible
return is much spoken about today. Do you thin it possible?

Domestic political crisis was seriously felt for the first time in
1999 and has not ended yet. The tragedy in the parliament on October
27 became a reason for new shocks. Afterwards, there was a period of
relative stabilization that ended on March 1 2008. The public unrest
of March 1 was the new phase of domestic political crisis in Armenia.

This new phase bears no relation that the aforementioned crisis. The
new phase of domestic political crisis in Armenia is coming from
public’s efforts to get adjusted to the absolutely new world. That is,
the issue was much serious than just change of power. It is still not
clear, he says, how Armenia is going to get adjusted to the changes
in the world and meet its new challenges that are sometimes very
difficult even to discover. Hovhannissyan thinks that the political
arena of Armenia lacks politicians of the new generation able to
answer also these questions.

The comeback of ex President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan into big
politics is impossible. Way too many bad things are associated with
his name. So, hean hardly hope that this time too people will elect
“whoever but not the acting president,” especially, as I think that
our people no longer think this way.

Recently the Armenian National Congress organized quite an interesting
civil forum, a group of intellectuals representing different spheres
and trying to make public their vision of the current situation
in the country. This is an excellent initiative. Liberty Square is
becoming a field that can generate new young leaders. I think that
any government in Armenia must have a serious opposition, a force
it will have to reckon with. In any case, we will finally be able
to answer the question what kind of Armenia we want to see in 5-10
years. I have always been an advocate of a dialogue as the only
effective way out of a crisis. I mean that there must be a kind of
hotline between the acting and the former presidents and a dialogue
between the government and the opposition. It is very bad that the
newly started dialogue between the government and the opposition
has been suspended. It might have helped the parties to find common
ways to manage the country. But it must in no way be a pretext for
discussing possibilities for changing government. No government will
agree to resign after a mere dialogue with the opposition. In this
light, the Coalition-ANC talks were bound to fail. But there are
still chances for the parties to improve the situation and if they
decide to resume their meetings, it will be right decision, a step
that will help to alleviate the social tension.

Proceeding from the current situation is it possible to forecast the
domestic political situation in

Armenia at least by the spring of 2012 and 2013 when the parliamentary
and presidential elections will be held?

It is very difficult. If we dealt with free and fair elections, we
would agree that the election results were fair and adequate. However,
the experience of all the previous elections in Armenia except the
ones of 1991 shows that there were no fair elections. In the dirty
political field in Armenia any party, even a party like Orinats Yerkir
may “receive” the necessary percentage of votes.

Are there any preconditions for that?

Yes, there are all the preconditions for that. But I think that much
in this aspect still depends on the world community since Armenia
is a member of the Council of Europe and has serious commitments to
that structure. Both the European observers and the entire civilized
world will adequately respond to the elections in Armenia and impose
sanctions in case of unfair elections. Making any forecasts regarding
the response of Europeans or Americans is not serious since all them
have their national interests and their actions will depend on that
very circumstance. There will be no way forward unless will realize
that our own national interests dictate fair elections.

I am sure that the main obstacle on the way of development of
the society in the person of monopolistic economy of Armenia will
inevitably ruin, as it is already impossible to keep on the float any
more. For this reason, anyway, the future president will be forced
to sort out the situation with oligarchs, which is a very hard and
dangerous affair. The fair elections are good at least for the fact
that the fairly elected president will have civil support and no
obligation against oligarchs.

Does it mean that after destruction of the oligarchic system of
economy, everything will remain under the ruins?

No, of course, as the system never ruins for an hour. Second,
before that the laws, which have been functioning in the republic
only in favor of emperors, which do nothing for development of local
production, should be changed. These changes may be fixed only if we
have such members of the parliament which really present interests
of the Armenian society.

TOURISM OF ARMENIA – MORE COMPETITIVE
By Aghavni Haroutiunian, translated by L.H.

AZG DAILY
12-10-2011

Despite being the main basis for development of a country,
competitiveness is a concept,ca in se of which, many characteristics
of state and national issues become much secondary, as in case of
being competitive, not only big and small sizes, areas, as well as
the difficulties of using the sea lines, and many other things will
be taken into account that, as a rule, are used in Armenia to justify
all the failures.

Of course, there are natural and also artificial difficulties and
complications created by our neighbors, and under those conditions
operates Armenia’s economy, but if it is competitive, it will mean
that directions are found that can provide development. For example,
tourism, which has been repeatedly declared as a major branch in
Armenia, and concrete steps in this direction seem to become more
objective and target.

For economic development, especially in a country like us, tourism
plays an important role with its various economic outcomes.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, who is also the Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the National Competitiveness Foundation
of Armenia, on International Tourism Day, on September 30, spoke of
Armenia’s potential for tourism development that, however, “is not
fully used”. “Tourism may and must be diversified in Armenia”, he said.

A step in that direction – TTG INCONTRI international tourism
exhibition has started these days in Rimini, Italy. National
Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia represents our country in it. By
the way, greatly welcomed news – Nagorno Karabakh also participates in
the exhibition. The Foundation will continue to support representation
of Karabakh’s tourism resources.

A few days ago, the National Competitiveness Foundation, in cooperation
with Italy’s Veneto region, the Venice Chamber of Commerce and
St. Lazar Mekhitarist Congregation organized a working conference on
tourism promotion between the Republic of Armenia and Veneto region. A
response-conference is scheduled to be held in Yerevan in November.

Before the above-mentioned conference, the Foundation represented
Armenia in Germany’s Travel Agents Association Conference and
TopResa-2011 International Tourism Exhibition in France.

Besides, as a result of international voting, the world renowned
National Geographic Traveler monthly magazine included Armenia among
top 3 “active, including extreme, recreation” areas.

Summarizing, we can say that according to the intention that the Board
of Trustees of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia
adopted tourism as a priority and focuses attention on the branch,
has its logical continuation. The work gives hope that more concrete
steps will be taken to ensure Armenia’s competitiveness and promote
Armenia’s international recognition as a tourism destination, with
this stimulating the rise of Armenia’s international reputation.

TRCHKAN WATERFALL IN THE TOILS OF BUILDING MACHINERY?

arminfo
Tuesday, October 11, 19:55

According to the green activists, building machinery was carried to
Trchkan Waterfall on Oct 10, “We Won’t Keep Silence” youth initiative
reported.

The press service of the Armenian Ministry of Nature Protection
told ArmInfo that the Environmental Inspection of Lori region was
instructed to study the situation on the spot. “No information has
been received from the Inspection yet”, said Spokesperson of the
Ministry Artsrun Pepanyan.

Environmentalists are concerned over the fact that construction of a
small hydropower plant on the waterfall may have a negative impact
on the Trchkan Waterfall and the ecosystem in general. In 2008 the
waterfall was included in the list of natural monuments of Armenia,
however, notwithstanding this, the project of HPP construction received
a positive conclusion of the environmental examination.

EcoLur NGO and the youth initiative “We Won’t Keep Silence” have
started an S.O.S. campaign. They demand that Armenian Minister
of Nature Protection Aram Haroutyunyan should annul the positive
conclusion of the environmental examination on the HPP construction
project.

ARMINCO HEAD APPOINTED AS ARMENIAN DEPUTY TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER

ARKA
Oct 11, 2011

YEREVAN, October 11. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
has appointed Andranik Alexanyan, head of Arminco company, as deputy
transport and communications minister.

According to the information available on the government’s website,
Alexanyan will be in charge of communications.

Alexanyan told ARKA News Agency that he quit his position in the
company. He said somebody from the company’s top-management would
succeed him.

Arminco started providing access to Internet in 1992.

The company has crested and is now using the Yerevan fiber-optic
basic network with capacity of 1Gbit/sec.

The company provides access to Internet via DialUP and DSL as well
as wireless communication and optics services via WiFi technology.

Arminco, a certified partner to Microsoft, runs the Network Information
Center of AM – AMNIC domain and Electronic Numbering (ENUM) national
register.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ON MKHITARIAN CONGREGATION ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

Tert.am
19:50 ~U 11.10.11

The Institute of History of Armenia’s National Academy of Science
(ANAS) hosted a round table discussion on the results of a two-day
international conference held on the occasion of the 200th anniversary
of the Mkhitarian Congregation in Vienna.

Titled the “The input of Mkhitarian Congregation in the development
of Armenian studies” the discussion was organized by the Institute
of History of ANAS, the Ministry of Diaspora and was also attended
by representatives of the Congregation.

The participants discussed issues related to the formation of the
Congregation, its educational life, publications, as well as issues
related to the manuscript heritage.

Father Poghos Gochanian of the Mkhitarian Congregation summarized the
results of the international conference and thanked the Ministry of
Diaspora for organizing it.

He also thanked the Institute of History for organizing the round
table discussion.

Ashot Melkonyan, Director of the Institute of History highlighted
the importance of annotation of the materials in the Congregation by
Armenian scientists.

A collection of the material of the conference will be published in
the near future.