Author: Badalian Vardan

TURQUIE : LE PROCES D’UN LYCEEN POURSUIVI POUR INSULTE A ERDOGAN REPORTE

TURQUIE

Le procès d’un lyceen de 16 ans poursuivi vendredi devant un tribunal
de Konya (centre) pour “insulte” au president islamo-conservateur Recep
Tayyip Erdogan a ete ajourne au 3 avril pour raisons de procedure,
a annonce son comite de soutien.

“L’audience a ete reportee a notre demande au 3 avril”, a ecrit sur
son compte Twitter Umut Kurt, responsable local de la jeunesse du
principal parti d’opposition turc, le Parti republicain du peuple (CHP,
social-democrate). Un des avocats du lyceen a demande le remplacement
des juges, qui souhaitaient imposer le huis clos, et obtenu le renvoi
de l’audience, a precise l’agence de presse Dogan.

Jeune militant du CHP, le prevenu est accuse d’avoir qualifie le
chef de l’Etat, mis en cause il y a un an dans un vaste scandale
politico-financier, de “chef des voleurs”, dans un discours prononce
au cours d’une manifestation en decembre. Poursuivi sur la base
de l’article 299 du code penal turc qui punit toute personne qui
“porte atteinte a l’image” du president, il risque jusqu’a quatre
ans de prison. Arrete par la police dans sa classe, cet adolescent
avait ete inculpe et ecroue, une première pour un mineur poursuivi
pour ce type de delit en Turquie, avant d’etre remis en liberte un
jour plus tard a la suite d’une plainte de ses avocats.

Depuis l’election de M. Erdogan a la presidence de la Republique en
août dernier, les poursuites pour “insulte” au chef de l’Etat se sont
multipliees en Turquie, visant aussi bien artistes et journalistes
que simples particuliers. Le barreau d’Istanbul a recense au moins
84 procedures de ce type en six mois. L’opposition, qui denonce
regulièrement la derive autoritaire du regime islamo-conservateur au
pouvoir depuis 2002, a exige l’abrogation de l’article 299, estimant
qu’il porte atteinte a la liberte d’expression.

lundi 9 mars 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

ARMENIA AND LEBANON TO EXCHANGE MILITARY PRACTICE

March 9, 2015 16:44

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenia and Lebanon will exchange military practice
in a number of defense fields which will result in practical character
of cooperation in near future.

The relevant agreement was reached during the meeting of First Deputy
Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan and delegation headed by
Brigadier General of Lebanese Defense Ministry Manuel Kirejian today.

The sides also discussed issues related to the modernization of
military cooperation agreement signed in 2001 and bilateral cooperation
plan for 2015.

The meeting with Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan focused
on the need for establishing high-level military-political relations
between the two states.

It should be recalled that military unit if 32 Armenian peacekeepers
has been taking part in UNIFIL mission in Lebanon under Italian
command.

ARMENIA’S FIRST PRESIDENT SHOWS LOYALTY TO RUSSIA’S LEADER

15:19 * 09.03.15

Styopa Safaryan, Director of the Armenian Institute of International
and Security Affairs (AIISA), believes that Armenia’s first
president, leader of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party Levon
Ter-Petrosyan is implementing one task, namely, remaining in politics
until the 2017 parliamentary elections.

“There was time when Ter-Petrosyan remained in politics by conducting
a dialogue with the authorities. Later he began cooperating with the
Prosperous Armenia party,” he said.

Ter-Petrosyan’s desire is to show he is most loyal to Russia. It was
clear at his last rally, when he ironically spoke of “demands for
Putin’s resignation on breastplates.”

Thus, Mr Ter-Petrosyan hinted that an opposition force could emerge
in Armenia which would be in opposition to Russia.

“Vacuum is in Armenia’s opposition arena, and the efficient figure
will occupy the seat of honor. There is a vacuum in the radical
opposition arena, but opposition forces have always existed. But I
do not say I want to see any force in the square because society is
only disappointed.”

100 ROSIERS POUR LES FEMMES ET LE CENTENAIRE AVEC ANNE HIDALGO

Inauguration au Jardin d’Erevan

Dimanche, sous le soleil printanier du 8 Mars au Jardin d’Erevan,
a l’occasion de la Journee internationale des droits des femmes, la
maire de Paris Anne Hidalgo a inaugure, en partenariat avec la Croix
Bleue des Armeniens de France, un parterre de 100 rosiers en hommage
aux femmes armeniennes et pour commemorer le centième anniversaire
du genocide des Armeniens (1915-2015).

En presence de l’ambassadeur de la Republique d’Armenie en France,
Viguen Tchitetchian, d’elus, dont le depute Rene Rouquet, Levon
Sayan, Alexis Govciyan, Ara Toranian, Harout Mardirossian, Antoine
Bagdikian, Robert Kechichian… plusieurs adjointes a la Mairie de
Paris et de Patrick Klugman, charge des relations internationales et
de la Francophonie, la maire du 8ème arrondissement de Paris, Madame
Jeanne d’Hautesserre a rendu hommage aux femmes armeniennes victimes
du genocide, manifestant la >

Beatrice Ananian, Presidente de la Croix Bleue des Armeniens de France
pointera specifiquement > des femmes
armeniennes, . > a-t-il dit. Puis citant l’une des
exceptionnelles pensees de l’humoriste Pierre Dac (1893-1975), il
dira : >.

L’hommage de la maire de Paris aux femmes armeniennes

Pour Anne Hidalgo, il s’agit la, comme toujours, de >. Elle remerciera
chaleureusement la Croix Bleue Armenienne de France a l’origine de
cette idee magnifique de planter cent rosiers en l’honneur des femmes
armeniennes qui ont succombe au genocide des Armeniens >>, rappelant
que Paris serait extremement engagee dans ce cycle de commemorations.

Parlant des racines armeniennes plantes a Paris et en France, en
metaphore a celle des rosiers, Anne Hidalgo dira qu’elles >

La maire de Paris exprimera son admiration pour la communaute
armenienne qui porte ces valeurs et cette histoire avec energie,
douceur, mais determination. Cette inauguration en l’honneur des
femmes qui ont succombe au genocide des Armeniens est pour elle
emblematique. Parce que les premières victimes des crimes, de la
barbarie, de la guerre, sont souvent les femmes et les enfants. En
cela >, a-t-elle dit.

> Evoquant la Shoah et le genocide au Rwanda, Anne Hidalgo
dira : >

Jean Eckian + Photos

Cliquer sur les images pour agrandir

lundi 9 mars 2015, Jean Eckian (c)armenews.com

ISTANBUL-BASED ARMENIAN WOMAN WILLING TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENT IN TURKEY

16:20, 09 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Istanbul-based Armenian Talin Ergunes Gazer wants to run for parliament
in Turkey with the opposition Republican People’s Party, Turkish
Taraf reports.

Born in 1977, Talin Ergunes Gazer speaks Armenian, Italian and English.

If elected, she will be the first Armenian female MP in the Turkish
Parliament. The only case an Armenian woman was represented in the
Turkish legislative body was the period between January 5 and Ovtober
29, when Hermine Galustyan temporarily worked as the President’s
representative at the parliament.

EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WORLD PRESS COVERAGE AND LECTURE SERIES TO BE HELD AT SKIRBALL CENTER

By MassisPost
Updated: March 8, 2015

LOS ANGELES — The publication of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
Director Dr. Hayk Demoyan’s “Armenian Genocide: Front Page Coverage
in the World Press” is a resounding wake-up call for the world,
for people of conscience who value life and integrity.

The illustrations and images revealed from the archives of various
international newspapers have been amassed not only as a book, but
also as an exhibition which, at the initiative of the AGBU Asbeds,
will be available for public viewing from April 8-10, 2015, at
Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles (2701 North Sepulveda Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90049). The exhibit will be open from 11AM – 10 p.m.,
while the lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. The three-day exhibition and
lecture series, under the heading “What the world witnessed a century
ago,” is an exceptional opportunity to bring together our Armenian and
non-Armenian peers alike. All events are free and open to the public.

The schedule is as follows: Wednesday, April 8, 2015: Exhibition
Opening and Reception: Featuring greetings as well as remarks by
official guests. Message by AGBU Asbeds Chairman Dr. Harout Yaghsezian
and keynote speech by Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Director
Dr. Hayk Demoyan from Armenia.

Thursday, April 9, 2015: Economics of the Armenian Genocide and its
Consequences: Dr. Ugur Umit Ungör (Associate Professor of History at
Utrecht University, Institute of War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands) will lecture on the aforementioned topic.

The lecture will be in English. Mr. Kurken Berksanlar, former Chairman
of the AGBU Asbeds, will moderate.

Friday, April 10, 2015: Forcibly Islamized Armenians: Who are they,
how many are there, and what should their numbers have been today. Do
Armenia, Armenians, and the Armenian Apostolic Church recognize
them? Panel discussion featuring H.E. Archbishop Hovnan Derderian,
Primate of the Western Diocese, and Mr. Raffi Bedrosyan, community
activist and writer from Toronto, Canada. Moderated by Mr.

Kurken Berksanlar former Chairman of the AGBU Asbeds.

***

“Armenian Genocide: Front Page Coverage in the World Press” is a 260
page volume (9â~@³ x 12â~@³) encompassing sketches, illustrations,
and photographs published in a number of international newspapers
from the last quarter of the 19th century to the first quarter of
the 20th century, with descriptors in Armenian and English. Browse
through its pages, look into the depths of each photograph, and
grasp its implication. As you journey through the pages you will
be transported to the past and feel yourselves in the midst of the
horrors endured by our people, a journey of death or, by some miracle,
escape, migration, and new life.

It is a volume that awakens humanity in man, prepared in a simplistic
style yet with content that stirs the soul of the reader. The book
was published in Yerevan in 2014, at the threshold of the Armenian
Genocide Centennial, under the patronage of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute and by the sponsorship of the Armenian General
Benevolent Union Asbeds Committee.

Dr. Demoyan writes in the prologue, “The publications dealing with the
persecution of Armenians that appeared on the front pages of European
and American newspapers are especially interesting, and are indicative
of the topicality of the Armenian Genocide at the time and of the
intensity of the desire to know what was happening to the Armenians.”

The book is presented in five headings chronologically, beginning
from the mid-19th century until the first quarter of the 20th century.

Thus, three incredibly fascinating events await us. Let us meet at
Skirball Center on Wednesday, April 8 to Friday, April 10, 2015.

CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT

Lragir.am
Country – 09 March 2015, 11:09

Armenian exporters are at a loss. Their main market is Russia, and as
businessmen note, they have been told to “wait”. The reason is the
financial and economic situation in Russia. According to official
statistics, exports to Russia in January plummeted by 99.9%.

Instead, exports to other countries increased, while Armenia is
officially a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. Although they
waive a hand saying it is temporary, “temporary” may last years.

These tendencies showed that membership to the EEU have driven Armenia
to the financial and economic edge. On the other hand, increase of
export to third countries show that companies are trying to find other
ways which is, however, a difficult process. The succeeding governments
of Armenia have always chosen what was closer, that is Russia, instead
of diversifying the economy, modernizing it and making it competitive.

It takes years, as well as managers with different mindset and values.

The Armenian government is not capable of these changes. The hasty
steps that are being taken now indicate lack of strategy.

This is not a surprise. The government is the representation of the
oligarchic system which is based on quotas, monopolies and surplus
profit. This system keeps the profits and makes up for its losses at
the people’s expense. This scheme, however, has stopped working.

The “fair” scheme proposed by Hovik Abrahamyan, which envisages for
each official and businessman to be responsible for “part” of its
“losses” is not working either. However, as time showed, nobody wants
to pay or otherwise puts forth unrealistic conditions.

In other words, the external and external conjuncture has fully changed
the state of things, and hasty and fundamental steps are needed which
will be aimed at the structure of the economy. However, an oligarchic
government cannot take such steps because they immediately concern
its interests.

The inevitable process of redistribution of property can be a partial
solution but it will just prolong the economic premises of the system
and will not lead to improvement of the general economic situation.

Hence, the issue of change of the structure of the government and the
economy has become an objective need. No matter how long this process
lasts, the situation of the country will be complicated. Besides,
the state of the oligarchic circles who are already facing a danger
will further get complicated. Gagik Tsarukyan is a vivid example.

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 7 2015

“Prosperous Armenia” has tipped the fate of the dwarf-party, say media

7 March 2015 – 2:57pm

The pace of the ‘unloading’ of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) was
expected, the newspaper ‘Haykakan Zhamanak’ writes.

According to the newspaper, if this rate continues in the future the
party at the best case could turn into a dwarf-party, and at worst – a
party represented by a single person. The same goes for the PAP
faction in the National Assembly (parliament) of the country. Until
recently the faction held 36 seats in the National Assembly, but that
has now has fallen by a third, reports NEWS.am.

Thus, five deputies left in the faction are Grigory Margaryan, Melik
Manukyan, Martuni Grigoryan, Mushegh Petoyan and David Kocharyan.

Another seven of have left the party: Aragats Ahoyan, Karo Karapetyan,
Bazmaser Arakelyan, Rustam Gasparyan, Oskanian Harutyun Karagezyan and
Abraham Manukyan.

So at the moment the PAP faction actually consists of 24 deputies,
Haykakan Zhamanak sums up.

The Pappas Post
March 7 2015

Remembering Christopher Thurber: Saved 7,000 Greek Children from
Smyrna Catastrophe; Flogged by Turks for Saving Greek Woman

By Gregory Pappas

Many personal stories of service and sacrifice have shaped the history
of the US involvement in the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the
distinctive work of various US missionary and aid organizations,
including one called the Near East Foundation, originally known as
Near East Relief.

One such story is that of Christopher Thurber, a public health expert
who, at the start of World War I, left his home in Connecticut to work
with typhus-stricken children living in the barracks of war torn
Constantinople.

Thurber himself contracted typhus, but recovered in time to direct the
safe transfer of 7,000 children from Sivas, Turkey, to Greece after
the 1922 Smyrna Disaster, when the Turkish army burned the city to the
ground and terrorized the local Greek and Armenian Christian
populations.

Thurber became well-respected and admired for his humanitarianism, but
it was his attempt to save a Greek refugee woman from being beaten by
Turkish soldiers in Scutari, Turkey, that further elevated his
standing. As punishment for the attempted rescue, he was flogged, and
suffered permanent damage to both feet. He walked with a cane for the
rest of his life.

In 1924, Thurber traveled to Greece to be director of relief work in
the region for Near East Relief. There, he supervised the education of
children in orphanages and also established homes in Athens for boys
who had gone on to graduate.

Thurber was in the midst of planning a new tuberculosis pavilion for
children when he suffered a stroke and died on May 31, 1930. His
contribution to public education and health was so pervasive that the
Greek government held a state funeral and declared a national day of
mourning in his honor. No other American had, or has since, received
such a tribute.

Guardian Liberty Voice
March 7 2015

Eurovision 2015: Current List of Representatives & Song Choices [Part 1]

With preparations for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest having fully
kicked off in Vienna, Italy, each country’s representative and their
song choice has begun to be revealed. While not all of said choices
have been announced as of yet, a very large majority of the decisions
have been made and the results are as follows:

Albania: Representing the country with the song I’m Alive, is
22-year-old Elhaida Dani. This Eurovision contestant rose to fame
following her win on the Albanian installment of Star Academy, with
her crowning having taken place back in 2009.

Armenia: Supergroup Genealogy will be putting in their bid for
Eurovision 2015 winner, with their sole purpose in forming relating to
the want to be awarded this honor. Each member is known for their own
personal achievements outside of the competition, as they are all
relatively well-known artists from entirely different parts of the
globe (the group’s home countries consist of Japan, France, Australia,
Armenia, the United States, and Ethiopia. Each member’s nomination to
compete in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest was announced separately,
with revelation dates ranging from February 16 to March 3. Their song
is entitled Don’t Deny.

Belarus: This country’s entry in the current year’s Eurovision Song
Contest is that of a duo, Uzari & Maimuna. The man is a
singer-songwriter, and the woman is a violinist. They are best known
for their song Time, of which they will present at the upcoming show
in question. Their nomination was announced in December, following
which the pair competed amongst others in order to fully receive
acceptance into the competition. They won the challenge with a total
of 76 points, which placed them first in three of the five jurors
scoring systems and third in the overall televote.

Belgium: Eurovision’s choice for this nation lays with Loïc Nottet, an
18-year-old who recently finished second in The Voice Belgique, upon
the end of the show’s third season. His song title has yet to be
revealed.

Cyprus: Greek artist Giannis Karagiannis will be representing Cyprus
in the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, performing the track One Thing I
Should Have Done. Back in 2007 and 2008, he was unsuccessful in his
attempts to be made the country’s candidate for the Junior Eurovision
Song Contest.

Czech Republic: Czech singer Marta Jandová and composer Václav Noid
Bárta will be performing the song Hope Never Dies, at this year’s
Eurovision. This song marks the third instance out of a current four
Czech entries where the lyrics were sung in English rather than in the
participant(s)’ native language.

Denmark: Anti Social Media, a Danish pop-rock band, will be taking the
stage for their country at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest. The
group, consisting of members Nikolaj Tøth, Philip Thornhill, Emil
Vissing. David Vang, will be performing their track The Way You Are.
The band won the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on February 7 upon performing
the aforementioned song, and thus was announced to be the Danish
participants for the upcoming Eurovision installment.

Estonia: Performing the song Goodbye to Yesterday are Elina Born and
Stig Rästa. Born (20) has previously tried her hand at a Eurovision
entry, attempting in 2013 to represent the country with the song
Enough, which did not end up being successful. She also placed second
in the reality singing competition Eesti otsib superstaari (which
translates into Estonia is Searching for a Superstar.) Rästa (35) was
previously in a band called Slobodan River, between the years of 2002
and 2006. The two individuals with whom he formed this group no longer
have any musical association with him.

(to be continued)

By Rebecca Grace