Author: Badalian Vardan

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]

COMPARISON OF PLUNDER OF PROPERTIES DURING
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND HOLOCAUST IN NAASR LECTURE

Umit Kurt of Clark University will present a talk entitled
“‘Legal’ and ‘Official’ Plundering of Armenian and Jewish Properties
During the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust: A Comparative
Perspective,” on Thursday, March 5, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center,
395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

The state-orchestrated plunder of Armenian and Jewish property
immediately impoverished its victims; this was simultaneously a
condition for and a consequence of the Armenian Genocide and
Holocaust. As the historian of Nazi looting and plundering of Jewish
property Martin Dean writes, ethnic cleansing and genocide usually
have a “powerful materialist component: seizure of property, looting
of the victims, and their economic displacement are intertwined with
other motives for racial and interethnic violence and intensify their
devastating effects.”

A series of laws and decrees as well as complex bureaucratic
mechanisms were created in the Ottoman-Turkish Republican and Nazi
Germany periods concerning the administration of the belongings of the
deported or killed Armenians and Jews. This presentation aims at
analyzing and comparing the processes of expropriation of these two
victim groups. In doing so, it will examine how the properties of
Armenians and Jews changed hands under a veneer of legality. The
presentation will discuss similarities and differences between the two
dispossession processes.

Umit Kurt is a Ph.D. candidate in history at Clark University and
a lecturer at Sabancý University. A 2014 recipient of a Gulbenkian
Foundation Armenian Studies Scholarship, his main area of interest is
the confiscation of Armenian properties and the role of local
elites/notables in Aintab during the Armenian Genocide, 1915-1921. He
is the author of numerous historical and political articles in
scholarly journals and newspapers including Nations and Nationalism,
Turkish Studies, Turkish Review, Culture and Religion, Turkish Policy
Quarterly, Turkish Journal for Politics, Tarih ve Toplum Yeni
Yaklaþýmlar, Birikim, Toplumsal Tarih, Cogito, Taraf, Radikal, and
Bianet. He is the author of several books in Turkish and co-author
with Taner Akçam of Kanunlarýn Ruhu: Emval-i Metruke Kanunlarýnda
Soykýrýmýn Ýzlerini Sürmek (The Spirit of the Laws: The Plunder of
Wealth in the Armenian Genocide), to be published in English in April
2015 by Berghahn.

For more information about Umit Kurt’s talk contact NAASR at
617-489-1610 or [email protected].

Belmont, MA
Feb. 12, 2015

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA INVESTIGATORS NOT EXCHANGING EVIDENCE ON PERMYAKOV CASE

00:15, 12.02.2015

YEREVAN. – The investigative agencies of Armenia and Russia exchange
no evidence pertaining to the criminal case involving Russian soldier
Valery Permyakov, who is the accused in the recent murder of seven
people in Armenia’s Gyumri city.

Sona Truzyan, the adviser to the chairman of the Investigative
Committee of Armenia, recalled to Armenian News-NEWS.am that an
Armenian-Russian joint coordination headquarters has been formed,
whose members are holding discussions and developing an investigative
action plan.

She added, however, that information exchange is possible, but an
exchange of evidence is not, within the framework of these talks.

“The parties have not transferred evidence to one another,” Truzyan
stressed.

As reported earlier, six members of the Avetisyan family–including
a two-year-old girl–were shot dead, and a six-month-old baby was
wounded in their house in Gyumri on January 12; and the baby boy died
in hospital on January 19.

Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base
in Gyumri, stands accused in this crime. Permyakov was apprehended
by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border on the
same night, he was arrested on January 14, and he is held in custody
at the Russian military base.

The soldier is charged under Russian law, with “the murder of more than
two people” and “desertion with a service weapon.” And on January 21,
the Investigative Committee of Armenia also filed a criminal charge
against Permyakov, and with “premeditated murder of two or more
persons.” The Russian soldier has accepted the charges.

Armenia News – NEWS.am

SARKISIAN UNLEASHES WRATH ON TSARUKIAN, FIRES HIM FROM SECURITY POST

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

One-time allies now sworn rivals–President Serzh Sarkisian and
Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

In what amounted to a pot calling the kettle black scenario, President
Serzh Sarkisian on Thursday night lashed out at one of his one-time
close political allies, the head of the Prosperous Armenia Party,
Gagik Tsarukian.

Speaking at his Republican Party of Armenia Council meeting, Sarkisian
used unusually harsh words to describe Tsarukian-also known as
“Doddy Gago”–often referring to him as “stupid” and “a detriment to
Armenian society.”

The president also fired Tsarukian from Armenia’s National Security
Council; called on his party members, who comprise the majority
in parliament, to launch an investigation into Tsarukian’s absence
from National Assembly sessions (according to Sarkisian of the 145
parliamentary sessions, Tsarukian has been present to only four);
tasked the prime minister to launch inquiries into Tsarukian’s
financial dealings and alleged evading of “billions” in taxes; and
tasked the judicial structures to begin probes into alleged criminal
conduct by Tsarukian, which he said have been “common knowledge”
in Armenia.

The growing wedge between the two one-time allies widened earlier
this week when a member of Tsarukian’s Prosperous Party of Armenia
was severely beaten, kidnapped and then dumped on a street near his
residence. The beating of PAP parliament member Artak Khachatrian
prompted Tsarukian and other prominent PAP members, including former
foreign minister Vartan Oskanian, who is a PAP member of parliament,
to turn up the volume on their criticism of the current regime.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Prosperous Armenia Party condemned
the attack on Khachatrian, saying that it was politically motivated
and was a form of intimation by the regime directed at forces who
were challenging the Sarkisian administration.

“We believe that the country’s supreme political leadership is
primarily to blame for the atmosphere of hooliganism and lawlessness,”
the party said in a statement.

Last Thursday, during a conference of non-ruling parties convened
at his initiative, Tsarukian said: “with the help of a nationwide
movement gaining strength with every passing day we will force the
authorities to feel responsibility for the current situation and
replace the current regime in the next elections.”

In his remarks Thursday night, Sarkisian referred to
Tsarukian-initiated rallies and events as a “circus,” saying that the
PAP leader probably did not understand the meaning of the words that
he was reading.

Sarkisian’s speech was uncharacteristic of a leader of a country,
both in its tenor and the vernacular used to attack. In conclusion,
the president clarified that “my entire speech was about a political
or rather a pseudo-political phenomenon called Gagik Tsarukian.”

In explaining his decision to relieve Tsarukian of his seat in the
NSC, Sarkisian said: “The supreme security body of the country is
not a movie theater, where one come and go as they please,” adding
that Tsarukian’s consistent absence from National Assembly sessions
was an affront to his constituents who had entrusted him with that
responsibility.

A significant portion of Sarkisian’s remarks focused on the pending
reforms to Armenia’s Constitution, which opposition forces, including
Tsarukian contend are being advanced by the regime and the ruling
party to ensure their continued rule over Armenia.

(The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia has
opted to support the Constitutional reforms process, by presenting
its own amendments and position, thus distancing itself from other
political forces that oppose the reforms process).

The president’s full-throttle attack on Tsarukian, the leader of
the second largest political party in Armenia, comes at a tenuous
time for Armenia, which is reeling from a violent outburst by law
enforcement personnel on a convoy of opposition members who were
headed to Karabakh late last month.

In his remarks, however, Sarkisian did not address the upsurge
in beatings of political activists, which seem to have become
commonplace in Armenia, nor did he address mechanisms through which his
administration would deal with the blatant disregard for rule of law.

In a rather surprising turn, the president said a mea culpa, bearing
all responsibility for containing past criticism of Tsarukian and
urging his backers to refrain from verbal attacks against the PAP
leader, saying that he was demonstrating restrain toward the leader
of the second largest political party in Armenia.

Apparently the cup runneth over for Sarkisian. Or, perhaps, by lashing
out at Tsarukian he was challenging other political forces to fall
in line.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES PUBLISHES INTERVIEW WITH ALI HASANOV

The Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency
Feb 12 2015

12.02.2015 [22:11]

London, February 12, AzerTAc

The Financial Times has published an interview with Head of the
Political and Public Affairs Department at the Azerbaijani Presidential
Administration Ali Hasanov, in which he highlights the country`s
position on the Ukraine conflict.”

In general, Azerbaijan is against military forms of solving conflicts.

We believe that in the present world there are more powerful tools
for solving conflicts than military ones,” he said.Azerbaijan avoids
aligning itself explicitly either with the west or with Russia in
its foreign policy.

Mr Hasanov said Azerbaijan was disappointed that western governments
had not taken an equally firm stand against Armenia’s seizure of
the Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other districts in Azerbaijan. “Our
objection is to the double standards in the west on this issue. In one
conflict the west calls them separatists, in the other they don’t,”
Mr Hasanov said.

He blamed a recent spate of violent incidents between Armenian and
Azerbaijani forces on “internal forces in Armenia who are trying to
strengthen their positions”.

He suggested that the US and its allies should take action to eject
Armenia from international bodies, such as the Council of Europe and
the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Mr Hasanov emphasized Baku’s co-operation with Washington on
counter-terrorism and energy, and blamed disagreements over human
rights on non-governmental organisations based in the US rather than
on the American government itself.

“Unfortunately, there are forces who use these incidents to cause a
deterioration in US-Azerbaijani relations and to undermine the image
of Azerbaijan. But other than that, Azerbaijan is committed to its
strategic partnerships with western countries,” he said.

Mr Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan shared a problem with western
countries in that about 300 Azerbaijanis had gone to fight in Syria
with Islamist extremists, posing a potential security threat upon
their return home.”Some forces want to see Azerbaijan as a radical
fundamentalist country. Some forces are intent on undermining the
secular path of Azerbaijan,” he said.

Mr Hasanov said the government was confident it could ride out the
effect of sharply falling oil prices on its budget and development
plans, partly because it was introducing new taxes on bank deposits,
property sales and luxury items such as imported cars.He stressed
that no new taxes would be imposed on the private, non-oil sector of
the economy.

He ruled out an abrupt devaluation of the manat, Azerbaijan’s currency,
but said the government was considering a managed downward adjustment
in line with the euro, which has been falling against the dollar.

Orkhan IsmayılovSpecial Correspondent

ZULAL FOLK TRIO BRINGS ARMENIAN MUSIC TO WILDEY

The Telegraph (Alton, Illinios)
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency
February 11, 2015 Wednesday

Feb. 11–EDWARDSVILLE — In Armenian, Zulal means “clear water.”

Zulal, the a cappella trio, takes Armenia’s village folk melodies and
weaves intricate arrangements that pay tribute to the rural roots of
the music while introducing a sophisticated lyricism and energy. The
folk trio performs at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, at the Wildey Theatre
in Edwardsville.

Zulal’s singers — Teni Apelian, Yeraz Markarian and Anaïs Tekerian —
have been singing together since 2002. The trio has performed in such
esteemed venues as the Getty Museum, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital
Hall, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage and New York’s Symphony
Space, along with performances for Cirque du Soleil and the Silk
Road Project.

Zulal has scored the film “Stone Touch Time” and has two critically
acclaimed albums to its credit. The trio celebrates the trials and
joys of old Armenian village life, which include: budding romances
in elevated gardens, the disappointments of hapless suitors, secret
messages placed upon the western winds, the moonlit faces of shepherd
boys and their brides. These are the searing impressions of the past
that come to life in Zulal’s arrangements, reminders of a simpler past,
tokens of comfort in the complex, modern world.

The concert is sponsored by the Granite City Reubena chapter of the
Armenian Relief Society, in conjunction with the local Armenian Youth
Federation and Armenian Relief Society chapters.

Adult admission cost $30 and children age 16 and younger admission
cost $20.

Visit for show times, ticket purcheses and
more information.

The Granite City Reubena chapter of the Armenian Relief Society
provided information for this article.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO GRANT ABOUT 200 MILLION DRAMS FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Feb 12 2015

12 February 2015 – 5:02pm

The government of Armenia has decided today to spend about 188.4
million drams on development of tourism, organization of festivals
of wine, kebabs and honey, as stated by Minister for Economy Karen
Chshmarityan, ARKA reports.

The government will continue supporting the International Education
Center of Guides within the framework of WFTA.

About 1.2 million tourists visited Armenia in 2014, 1.084 million
in 2013.

($1 = 479.47 drams)

TURKEY WANTS ‘ISTANBUL’ MOSQUE IN CUBA: ERDOGAN

Agence France Presse
February 12, 2015 Thursday 10:15 AM GMT

Istanbul, Feb 12 2015

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled his ambitious plan
to build a major Ottoman-style mosque in Cuba, saying it should be
similar to a nineteenth century one on the Bosphorus in Istanbul,
the presidency said Thursday.

Erdogan acknowledged after holding talks with Cuban President Raul
Castro in Havana that Cuban officials had appeared to have already
made an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the construction of a mosque
in Havana.

But Erdogan, who caused astonishment last year by claiming Muslims
discovered the Americas before Columbus, said Turkey was pressing
for an Ottoman-style mosque in another city in Cuba.

“We have told them that we could build a similar one to Ortakoy
Mosque in another city, if you have promised to others for Havana,”
Erdogan said in the communist island, the second stop of his Latin
America tour.

The Ortakoy Mosque, designed by the Balyan family of Armenian
architects, was built in 1853 during the rule of the Ottoman sultan
Abdulmecid I.

The neo-Baroque edifice is a familiar sight on the shore near the
Bosphorus Bridge.

Erdogan said Turkey was not in search of a partner to build the mosque
as “our architecture is different from that of Saudi Arabia.”

“I have provided the Cuban officials with all the necessary
information…. so far they have not taken a negative approach to it,”
he was quoted as saying by the presidential website.

Erdogan, a pious Muslim who has been in power for more than a decade,
stirred controversy late last year by declaring that the Americas
were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centuries
before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic.

Erdogan cited as evidence for his claim that “Columbus mentioned the
existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast” and offered to
build a mosque at the site mentioned by the Genoese explorer.

The president has repeatedly been ridiculed by critics for harking
back to Turkey’s past to even before the Ottoman Empire was established
in the fourteenth century.

DADYAN EMERGES FROM BENEATH BALYAN

Baruyr Kuyumciyan 02.04.2015 19:51SOCIETY

The gravestone rendered illegible because it was left beneath Garabet
Balyan’s gravestone has been identified as Simon Amira Dadyan’s. Both
gravestones have been taken into preservation at the Archaeological
Museum to be returned to the Armenian community.

In the past weeks, the gravestone of Garabet Balyan, had been
discovered at an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality construction
site in Soganlık, Kartal; and now the gravestone of Simon Amira
Dadyan, a member of another important family of the period, has
been discovered beneath it. The gravestones, which were discovered
when they came to the attention of a watchful and sensitive father
and son who live in Kartal, are being kept at the Archaeological
Museum pending return to the Armenian community. The discovery of
Garabet Balyan’s gravestone had caused great interest and debate,
and the Metropolitan Municipality had assigned a special 24-hour
municipal police unit to protect the stones. Following the report
published in Agos, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the
Istanbul Provincial Cultural Directorate took action, and Istanbul
Archaeological Museum officials took the gravestones from Kartal
to the Museum upon the order of the Directorate. An investigation
regarding the gravestones has also been launched.

Board will investigate

Speaking to Agos, Istanbul Archaeological Museum officials stated
that the gravestones were ‘immovable cultural heritage assets’ and
that the Cultural Heritage Preservation Board would carry out an
official examination. The report on the stones will be discussed as
part of the agenda of the first meeting of the Istanbul 5th Cultural
Heritage Preservation Board. The decision of the board will determine
the fate of the gravestones.

Patriarchate involved

On the other hand, the fate of other gravestones at the site, which
do not have immovable cultural heritage status, remains unclear. The
Patriarchate has also become involved regarding the gravestones of the
two figures that occupy a highly significant place in the history
of Istanbul Armenians. Following the meeting of the architects
of the Armenian Architects and Engineers Association (HAYCAR),
which is closely following developments, the decision was taken to
prepare and submit a petition for the return of the gravestones from
the Council of Monuments. The most appropriate institution for the
return of the gravestones is considered to be the BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_ Surp
Asdvadzadin Armenian Church, to which the expropriated cemetery was
affiliated with.

The gravestone of Garabet Balyan, the architect of many important
architectural monuments in Istanbul including the Dolmabahce Palace,
has been transferred to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum for
preservation. The gravestones were found placed above each other at
the Kartal construction site, and the inscription on Garabet Balyan’s
gravestone could easily be read because it was at the top of the pile.

In addition to Balyan’s gravestone, another gravestone and column
pieces were also discovered. When the gravestone was transported to
the Archaeological Museum, the inscription of the other gravestone
could also be partially deciphered, revealing that it belonged
to Simon Amira Dadyan, the Head of the Gunpowder Factory of the
Ottoman Empire. Although the part featuring his name was damaged,
the inscription on the gravestone of Dadyan, who passed away on 12
March 1832, and was buried at the BeÃ…~_iktaÃ…~_ Armenian Cemetery,
could be read to the extent that it was proved to belong to him.

Historian Elmon Hancer managed to determine both from the word
‘varotabed’, meaning ‘gunpowder factory head’ and the date of death
that the gravestone belonged to Simon Amira Dadyan, and stated that
the Dadyan Family was a very important family that had initiated
industrial development in the Ottoman Empire. Hancer added that both
gravestones featured a very special type of calligraphy, and that
they were valuable pieces reflecting the aesthetic of the period.

Lost since the 1950s

The cemetery had become derelict over the years after Sultan Abdul
Hamid II had ordered the demolition of its walls and its transformation
into a garden, and that meant no new burials took place. The cemetery
area had been completely sequestrated in the 1950s, and various
buildings and the Yıldız intersection that connects to the Bosphorus
Bridge are located on the plot today.

Although there aren’t many photographs of the expropriated cemetery, it
is known that Garabed Balyan and Simon Amira Dadyan, whose gravestones
have been retrieved, were buried here. The gravestones in question
have once again shed light on these two Armenian families who had
took on important roles in the Ottoman Empire.

Who is Simon Amira Dadyan?

Simon Amira Dadyan, the brother of Hovannes Bey Dadyan, who received
the title ‘Bey’ because of his role in the Crimean War, is also known
as the founder of the YeÅ~_ilköy Armenian Church. Simon Amira was
appointed as the head of the Ottoman Gunpowder Factory following the
death in 1812 of his father Dad Arakel who had founded the institution,
and remained in this position until his death. The inscription on his
gravestone also mentions his close friendship with Sultan Mahmud II,
and Simon Amira also developed, with his brother Hovannes Dadyan,
important inventions used at the factory, the expansion of which he
oversaw. The two brothers are also known as the founder of the carpet
factories in Hereke. Simon Amira Dadyan was also awarded the ‘Murassa’
[‘bejewelled’] medal by Sultan Mahmud II, and had earned the privilege
of dressing like Muslims. Simon Amira served during the period when
Kazaz Artin Amira Bezciyan was in charge of the Ottoman Royal Mint, and
he is known to have developed a number of inventions used at the Mint.

ARMENIA’S GOVERNMENT EARMARKS AMD 601.5 MILLION TO SUPPORT EXPORTERS

YEREVAN, February 12. /ARKA/. Armenia’s government decided Thursday
to allocate AMD 601.5 million in 2015 to support exporters. Economy
Minister Karen Chshmarityan, presenting the draft decision to the
Cabinet ministers, said that the support includes at least four
conferences focused on industry and trade.

The government will assist Armenian companies in participation in
foreign exhibitions by paying 50% of the amount they have to pay for
leasing pavilions.

UNEXPECTED RISK FOR ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Society – 12 February 2015, 15:10

The State Migration Service informed that its head Gagik Yeganyan is
on a business trip to Moscow to try to facilitate the entry of 50-60
thousand citizens of Armenia to Russia.

According to the message, this many citizens cannot visit Russia due
to tougher migration legislation.

The Armenian government has to face the fact. They were trying their
hardest for months on to persuade that membership to the EEU would
unify the labor market, and the citizens of Armenia would leave to
work in Russia more easily. Thereby an attempt was made to legitimize
the act against sovereignty.

After the act it was clear that the public had been deceived, or at
least the part of the public who trusted and expected that labor
migration to Russia would thus be facilitated. It turned out that
50-60 thousand people were left “out”, i.e. left in Armenia.

In fact, this is the most serious and to some extent also the tragic
aspect of the issue when the citizens demand that the government help
them leave the country instead of employment and dignity in their
own country.

What will be after the problem is resolved? It is not hard to
forecast. Once the problem of entry of 50-60 thousand citizens of
Armenia to Russia is resolved, they will not only work to earn money
but will also work to get Russian citizenship to avoid trouble and
deception.

It goes without saying the resolving the problem of entry is in the
government’s interest. The so-called revolution resource is leaving
and eating mouths get fewer. “To stay here to do a revolution?” the
ex-prime minister said.